Chilean President Sebastian Pinera convened an emergency meeting for next week to prepare for a potential deepening of the European economic crisis, El Mercurio reported today, citing Labor Minister Evelyn Matthei and Economy Minister Pablo Longueira.

The government may increase spending as part of a contingency plan designed to protect employment, investment and liquidity if the European crisis slows growth in the Andean nation, the Santiago-based newspaper reported, citing government sources it didn’t name.

To contact the reporter on this story: Randall Woods in Santiago at rwoods13@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Joshua Goodman at jgoodman19@bloomberg.net