European leaders must first use their own financial resources to stem the soverign debt crisis before asking the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for help, Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi said.

Speaking to reporter in Tokyo on Friday, Mr. Azumi urged European leaders to reach consensus at the EU summit in Brussels to ease market concerns by utilizing their own resources to the full extent.

Urging the European leaders to do the needful, the Japanese finance minister said, "They have water to put their fire out. They have the power."

European leaders are holding a summit on Thursday and Friday in Brussels as a part of their efforts to agree on a concrete plan to tackle the debt crisis, which has brought the Euro at the verge of collapse.

Mr. Azumi added that 187 members of the Washington-based international lender might discuss possible aid to help address the sovereign debt crisis in future, if European leaders' attempts fail to stem the problem.

He underscored that Japan had already lent a helping hand to the struggling European countries by purchasing emergency bonds issued by the European Financial Stability Facility.