Sent to you by khalil via Google Reader:
Potential bailout followed comments by the world's biggest bond investor virtually inviting depositors to withdraw their money
Ireland is to be offered an €85bn (£72bn) loan from the IMF and the EU to bail out its banks and fund its public finances.
In a deal expected to include a contribution from the UK taxpayer of up to £10bn, the crippled banking sector is to be recapitalised, effectively taking Allied Irish Banks into state control and giving the government a majority stake in Bank of Ireland.
According to Irish broadcaster RTÉ, the banks will be forced to push up their capital cushions from 8% to 12% in a move that should boost confidence in the banking sector that has been suffering big deposit outflows.
RTÉ said €48bn would be used to fund the government deficit over the next three years, with €15bn-20bn to recapitalise the banks, and an extra contingency fund of €20bn.
The potential bailout of the banking system followed comments by the world's biggest bond investor, virtually inviting depositors to take their money out of Ireland's stricken banks.
EU authorities will be hoping the speed with which the deal appears to have been agreed will calm the markets, where there have been fears that Portugal could also need a bailout, and even Spain.
Markets were febrile yesterday, with the euro plunging more than two cents against the dollar and share prices falling heavily in Europe and North America.
Tensions between North and South Korea further strained nerves, while Germany admitted that the future of the euro was at stake through the Irish bailout.
Mohamed El-Erian, chief investment officer of the powerful bond manager Pimco, fuelled anxiety about the health of the banks yesterday by describing Ireland's banks as "bleeding deposits".
He said: "What you advise your sister in Ireland now is that you'd say take your money out of an Irish bank and put it in another bank headquartered elsewhere.
"That's what happened in Argentina and in emerging economies. People worry about their savings."
Ireland's central bank had immediately denounced Erian's remarks by saying there was "no basis for concern" and all deposits were guaranteed by the government. But the central bank's admission that major international firms had been withdrawing their funds from Ireland highlighted the anxious mood of the markets on the eve of the government's four-year fiscal plan, which is a crucial component on the deal with the IMF and EU.
Erian, who was interviewed by the Bloomberg news agency, said Ireland needed to conclude those negotiations to restore confidence in the banking system.
"It will seriously undermine the prosperity of this country for a generation. The first thing they must do is execute on what they announced this weekend, which is a big external aid package and steps by the Irish government," he said.
According to RTÉ, Ireland's banks will be made considerably smaller and the bad loans will be taken out of the troubled UK arm of AIB in an attempt to allow the operation to be sold off.
Irish bank shares had been hit hard before details of the package leaked and central bank boss Patrick Honohan had invited bidders. "They [the banks] are for sale as far as I am concerned. I have been an advocate for a number of years for small countries to have foreign owners for their banks," he said. US billionaire Wilbur Ross said he was "very far along" in the process of buying a bank.
Ireland's woes prompted concerns that the authorities had failed to use the Republic as a firebreak for the crisis which now risks enveloping Portugal and even Spain. The cost of borrowing for both countries rose yesterday. Spain did not manage to raise as much money as it had hoped in its regular bond auction and was forced to pay more to raise the funds.
Jim O'Neill, chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, warned that the Irish rescue package did not solve the problems at the heart of the single currency.
Other market experts were also concerned about the eurozone. Graham Turner of GFC Economics said the solution for weak members might be for Germany to walk away from the single currency.
He suggested that Austria, Finland, the Netherlands and Germany could form a new deutschemark bloc which would allow the other 12 members of the eurozone to devalue and reflate their way out of the crisis. "It has to be a better option than the present straitjacket of a single currency," said Turner.
In Europe, London's FTSE 100 index closed 95 points (1.8%) lower at 5581.28 while Germany's DAX tumbled 1.7% and the CAC-40 in France ended 2.5% lower. Spain's Ibex closed down 2.8% and Portugal's PSI 2.1%.
The euro fell to its lowest level in two months of 1.3377 against the dollar.
The German parliament was told of the gravity of the situation by finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble. "Our common currency is at risk," he said, if Germany did not play its part in bailing out Ireland. Without participation, the "economic and social consequences for our country will be incalculable". Chancellor Angela Merkel echoed his remarks, saying: "We're in an extraordinarily serious situation."
Things you can do from here:
- Subscribe to The Guardian World News using Google Reader
- Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites