We are now accountable to our paymasters

BLEAK though the economic outlook is we should be glad the Government has nailed down the cost of bailing out the banks, albeit a whopping €50 billion.

Some dismiss the enormity of this as if paying off such a sum over 10 years is a trivial mater. The point consistently made is we do not have to come up with the total amount overnight, and provided we act now we can live with the enormous cost involved.

To try and stay positive for a minute, the markets have calmed somewhat since Thursday and bond yields have eased a bit. We’re still paying more for our funds, about 4% above the German rate, and in that sense the decision not to go back to the markets until January is probably a good move.