Irish bailout fixed at €85bn
2010-11-28 22:11
Brussels - Ireland's bailout was formally announced Sunday at €85bn, €10bn of which is for "immediate recapitalisation" and €25bn for contingency support to its banking sector, the head of the Eurogroup said.
Finance ministers from the 16 countries that share the euro currency, plus non-euro Britain, Denmark and Sweden, each of whom are making bilateral loans available to Dublin, "unanimously agreed today to grant financial assistance" to Ireland, Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said.
The programme of loans, with €50bn set aside for "covering budget financing needs," and "rests on three pillars," he said.
These are: an "immediate strengthening" of Ireland's banking system, an "ambitious fiscal adjustment" in order to bring Ireland's 32% of GDP annual deficit this year back within EU norms, of three percent, "by 2015," as well as broader economic reforms "in particular on the labour market".
