Frankfurt, Germany - Europe is facing a make-or-break month. Its economy is sinking and the debt crisis that has hit some of its members threatens global economic disaster. Now its central bank is poised to hold off from helping - in the hope that Europe's divided leaders will be pushed into action.

Analysts say the European Central Bank will keep its most powerful monetary weapons muzzled when its 23-member governing council meets today. No cut is expected in its benchmark interest rate, which is at a record low of 1 percent, and there's little prospect that it will serve up more cheap emergency credit for shaky banks after it already has handed out $1.24 trillion in December and February.

The ECB's head, Mario Draghi, wants politicians such as Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to work together on far-reaching action to fix what's really wrong with the euro at a crucial summit June 28-29 in Brussels. Then, analysts say, Draghi and the ECB might be willing to step in quickly and help as soon as July.

It's a risky game because the eurozone - the 17 countries that use the euro as their currency - is in big trouble. Investors have turned their focus on Spain amid concerns that it will not be able to find enough money to prop up its struggling banking sector. This has pushed the country's borrowing costs on the bond markets to worrying heights, making it harder to keep paying its debts as they come due. There are concerns that Spain may join Ireland, Greece and Portugal in seeking international assistance. However, because Spain's economy is so much larger than the other three, any bailout would seriously strain other countries' resources.

The banks have also been a key part of Europe's government debt crisis. Bailing out the banks is a huge burden on financially shaky governments, and weak government finances in turn hurt the banks that hold those governments' bonds.

Most powers to regulate banks have been left with national authorities, who have been seen as protective of their domestic financial services industries at the detriment of the Europe's banking sector.

And in just over two weeks, Greece returns to the polls with a real danger looming that it might elect a government that rejects the terms of its multi-billion bailout. This could force the country out of the euro, irreparably fracturing the eurozone and further roiling markets.

A Spanish default, banking collapse, or a Greek euro exit, could spread financial shock waves and shove the global economy into another recession and the world's markets have fallen on fears that this is around the corner.

Over the past week there has been a concerted push by some of Europe's leading authorities to get the region's leaders to act - and quickly. Last Wednesday, the European Union's executive body, the European Commission, called on politicians to work on founding a central authority with the financial muscle to fix its broken banks. The very next day, Draghi laid down a forceful challenge to politicians, describing the current setup of the 17-country currency union "unsustainable" and calling for a clear vision for reworking the foundations in place since its launch in 1999.

"Dispel this fog," he urged members of the European Parliament in Brussels.

Analysts say the ECB has a strong motive for staying put until it sees some movement from governments.

"The ECB looks tired of being the eurozone's fire brigade and seems to have a preference for staying on hold," Carsten Brzeski, an analyst at ING in Brussels, wrote in a note to investors. "It looks like the ECB will want to keep the pressure as high as possible to tackle political complacency."

However, the eurozone's problems could always force the ECB's hand. The region's economy could well shrink by more than the mild 0.3 percent predicted by EU forecasters. Key surveys of business confidence are pointing down. A shrinking economy lowers tax revenue and makes it harder for governments to pay their debts. This economic slide puts the ECB under pressure to act quicker than it would like. This puts the ECB and Draghi in a predicament somewhat like that of the U.S. Federal Reserve and Ben Bernanke. Poor hiring statistics on Friday have raised the possibility of more action by the Fed, which has cut interest rates to near zero but could do another round of bond purchases, a step which increases the supply of money in the economy.

If Draghi and the governing council see results from Europe's leaders at the June summit, they might be inclined to respond with more help. That's what the ECB did after the fiscal treaty was agreed in December _ following up with the cheap bank loans that help hold the crisis at bay temporarily.