Ireland given 25% chance of bankruptcy

WORLD markets estimate there is a one in four chance Ireland will go bankrupt over the next five years, pushing the cost of insuring government debt of e51.16 billion to e1.66bn a year.

The cost of protecting Irish, German, Belgian and Slovak government debt against default rose to record highs yesterday, according to monitor CMA DataVision.

CMA said the cumulative probability of default (CPD) by the Government currently stands at 24.6%, up from 20% at the end of January. The cost of insuring against the Government defaulting has soared by 1,562% since May of last year.