Debt extension ‘not inevitable’

Despite reports suggesting the Government was in talks with the troika over a debt maturity extension, Mr Noonan said he didn’t feel an extension announcement was inevitable; certainly not before this week’s Ecofin meeting of European finance ministers.

Mr Noonan added that the Greek election results would have “no direct influence on Ireland”, but that the stability it might bring to the wider eurozone will benefit us.

And on Spain’s rising borrowing costs, he noted: “It reinforces what people already know; that it’s not a Greek or Spanish or Italian problem, as such, but a wider eurozone problem. The markets are looking for a broad eurozone solution.”

Mr Noonan made his comments as he arrived at an emerging markets opportunities conference jointly hosted by Enterprise Ireland and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in Dublin, yesterday. At the conference, Mr Noonan said Ireland’s immediate budget deficit targets are “easily reachable” and the Government is “committed to a sustainable, innovation-driven model of growth.”

One of the main speakers at yesterday’s conference; Karin Finkleston — the IFC’s vice-president for the Asia-Pacific region — said that while conscious of the challenges facing the eurozone, the IFC sees a big opportunity for European-based firms to “look beyond” into emerging geographical markets.

Ms Finkleston noted the IFC sees an opportunity to increase its support for Irish firms looking to expand across emerging markets.