As financial markets cast a wary eye on Greece, on the eve of a critical no-confidence vote in Parliament, officials in the euro zone struggled to keep the debt contagion from spreading west to neighboring Italy. Should Italy get swept up in that, it could rapidly overwhelm even the latest bailout vehicle being assembled, the $1.4 trillion European Financial Stability Facility, taking Europe’s debt crisis to a new level and potentially dragging down the global economy.

Italy said it would allow the fund to scrutinize its books every three months to make sure a $75 billion austerity package was carried out according to plan. A team from the European Commission will also travel to Rome next week to start monitoring Rome’s efforts, said the president of the commission, José Manuel Barroso.

Even that backstop seemed in doubt on Friday after the Group of 20 meeting broke up apparently with little progress on Europe’s debt problems, aside from the decision to have the I.M.F. monitor Italy. Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, acknowledged that Europe’s leaders had so far failed to interest any of the nations in the Group of 20 in investing in the new facility — a major goal of European leaders.

The decision also did little to edge Italy away from the center of the storm: The interest rates it pays to borrow in financial markets continued to tick up Friday, amid concerns that a broader rescue effort by European leaders had not gained much traction. Rising borrowing costs are what helped send Greece, Portugal and Ireland to the fund looking for bailouts last year.

Mrs. Merkel said cash-rich countries like China and Russia wanted more assurances that they would not sustain losses, perhaps by having the I.M.F. oversee the financing facility. Japan, whose leadership has grown increasingly alarmed at the Continent’s spreading debt crisis, does not want to commit funds to the rescue effort until it is clear that they would not be subject to losses, especially if Europe insists on using the money to help support insolvent banks, a government spokesman said Friday.