Written by Foras Teamhrach
Irish Times – “The Government should oppose the nomination of French finance minister Christine Lagarde as head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) because she is “aggressive”, “hawkish” and “so hostile” to Ireland, the Dáil has been told. Independent TD Shane Ross (Dublin South) warned that “if we support someone who is so hawkish against [...]
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Written by Foras Teamhrach
Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said the State will not seek to restructure its debt, but will continue to seek improvements in the EU-IMF bailout package. "We will repay our loans. We will not restructure our debt," Mr Kenny told reporters in Celbridge, Co Kildare. "We are not looking for any further time. We are going [...]
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Written by Foras Teamhrach
“Standard & Poor’s, the self-righteous credit-rating agency, has a damn lot of nerve. It provoked scary headlines by solemnly threatening to "short" America. That is, downgrade the credit-worthiness of US Treasury bonds unless Congress and the president oblige creditors by punishing the citizenry with severe budget cuts.” … “News coverage on S&P’s credit warning typically [...]
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Written by Foras Teamhrach
“Further public service pay cuts could be demanded by the EU and IMF next year if the proposals to overhaul the sector don’t save enough money. The Government yesterday published the memorandum outlining the terms and conditions the EU and IMF have attached to the €85 billion bailout. The document makes clear the degree to [...]
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Written by Foras Teamhrach
“Irish banks have been state-guaranteed to the tune of €723bn since the start of the crisis, the second-highest figure in the 27-member bloc. The European Commission’s state aid scoreboard, which ranks countries in order of their reliance on government support, places Ireland second only to Britain, which has gained EU approval for over €850bn worth [...]
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Written by Foras Teamhrach
The following is the substance of the press release outlining the purpose and intent of the stability mechanism. Attention should be focused on the last paragraph, concerning national debt. It is made abundantly clear here that any kind of default, or “haircut,” or any other arrangement than paying back these “loans” is not on the [...]
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Written by Foras Teamhrach
In an apparent policy shift, European finance ministers agreed to a proposal put forward by Germany and supported by France for an extension of the existing European emergency bail out fund, with the creation of a European Stability Mechanism (ESM). This will be set up in the euro area as of mid-2013, this was agreed [...]
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Written by Foras Teamhrach
“The terms of the EU/IMF’s €85 billion ($113 billion) bailout for Ireland are much worse than analysts had anticipated. Ireland will be required to use its National Pension Reserve Fund (NPRF) to shore up its insolvent banks and to maintain government operations. At the same time, senior debt-holders will not share any of the losses [...]
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Written by Foras Teamhrach
The National Asset Management Agency (Nama) is to take on further land and loans under the memorandum of understanding on the conditions for the €85 billion aid package agreed with the EU and IMF. The Government today published the document that sets out the key conditions for the EU element of the loan, which is [...]
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Written by Foras Teamhrach
(Source: Press Association / Irish Independent): Europe attempted to push Ireland into an international bailout before the Cabinet could discuss it, Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said today. Mr Ahern also accused officials from the European Central Bank (ECB) of leaking details to the media to pressurise the Government into applying for a rescue loan. The [...]
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