Lenihan says nationalising BoI and AIB not inevitable

FULL nationalisation of Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks is not a foregone conclusion, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said yesterday.

Responding to suggestions that nationalisation was the likely outcome for the country’s two major banks he said: “I have to say it’s not inevitable”.

He was speaking at the launch of the National Treasury Management Agency’s (NTMA) annual report for 2008 in Dublin yesterday.