Brussels, May 10 (DPA): European Union finance ministers early Monday agreed to set up a permanent system to rescue eurozone states which run into financial trouble of the kind that has brought Greece to its knees, diplomats said.

The deal was the result of a race against time to shore up the credibility of the euro before financial markets opened in Asia. Last week the euro fell to 14-month lows as traders feared that the bloc would be unable to save members such as Greece, Spain and Portugal from possible default.

Diplomats said that the deal would consist of creating a 500-billion-euro ($637-billion) "special purpose vehicle" for future rescue loans.

The money would come from the European Commission, with 60 billion euros, and eurozone member states, with 440 billion euros.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) would be expected to contribute "at least half as much again" as the eurozone contribution, or 220 billion euros, diplomats said.

The deal came after a day of high drama at an emergency meeting of EU finance ministers Sunday. The talks were designed to put together a safety net for eurozone states strong enough to convince markets that the currency zone is capable of looking after its own.

"Everybody knows that in the last two weeks we have been through extreme turmoil in the markets ... Now we have to take measures which normalise the markets," Finnish Finance Minister Jyrki Katainen said.

In the event ministers reached their deal just nine minutes after the Tokyo stock market opened.

Eurozone states and the IMF teamed up a week ago to organise a 110-billion-euro bail-out loan for Greece.