European finance ministers are trying to raise more money to fight the continent's governmental debt crisis.

The finance chiefs from the 17 nations that use the euro are meeting Monday via a conference call to try to collect $261 billion in additional funding for the International Monetary Fund to boost its rescue fund. It is money that could be needed to help rescue Italy and Spain, the eurozone's third and fourth largest economies, if either defaults on its debts.

The eurozone finance leaders also plan to work on details of the fiscal compact to control deficit spending they agreed to earlier this month, a pact also supported by nine other European Union nations that have separate currencies, but not Britain.

The UN Conference on Trade and Development, in a new report, underscored Europe's economic plight. It said the continent faces a full-fledged recession next year and prospects for the world economy are bleak. The UN agency said world leaders need to stimulate economic growth, but instead are choosing austerity measures that raise the chance of a global recession.

Financial markets initially welcomed the European debt crisis agreement. But since then they have grown skeptical that IMF funding will be large enough to handle a new bailout crisis that could be much larger than those already faced by Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

The eurozone finance ministers are seeking three-fourths of the money for the IMF from eurozone central banks and the remainder from other European countries that have their own currencies. But reaching its $261 billion funding goal could prove difficult, with Britain saying it won't contribute, and Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria also ruling out new contributions to the Washington-based fund.

In Madrid, Spain's next prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, vowed to trim the government's deficit by more than $21 billion next year. Mr. Rajoy, slated to assume office this week, detailed a variety of austerity measures in a speech to Parliament.

But Mr. Rajoy warned that hard times lay ahead for Spain, with its unemployment rate at a staggering 23 percent. He said the “panorama could not be more somber.”