Flaherty: Bond volatility to continue without firewalls

TOKYO (Reuters) - Volatility in government bond markets is likely to continue unless European countries take steps to shield their financial systems, Canada's finance minister said as he expressed frustration with Europe's two-year old debt crisis.

European officials need to put meat on the bones on plans to prevent sovereign debt woes from spreading through the continent, he said, adding that some non-European Group of 20 finance ministers are reluctant to bring forward their next meeting until Europe takes more action.

European Union governments have until a summit on December 9 to come up with the outlines of a much bolder and more convincing strategy to solve their debt crisis. Gains in French government bond yields suggest some traders are betting that even Europe's second-largest economy isn't immune from the turmoil.

Until European countries build firewalls for their financial system, I think we will continue to see market volatility, Canada's Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Wednesday.

Some of us are frustrated by the failure of clear and decisive action in Europe.

Europe's debt crisis, which has been simmering for two years and has slowly spread from Greece to Ireland and now engulfs Italy, has policymakers worried as it threatens to derail the global economy.

Flaherty reiterated his view that Europe has the resources to solve its crisis on its own. More funds may be needed for the International Monetary Fund, but this money should be directed more to poor developing countries, he said.

Canada doesn't support currency intervention, but there are rare situations that are so disorderly that some intervention is understandable, he said.

(Editing by Joseph Radford)