Bailout of banks could reach €33bn

THE total cost to the taxpayer of bailing out the banks could be a massive €33 billion, a leading economist has warned.

That represents 20% of GDP and “is significantly more” than the figure previously estimated by Goodbody Stockbrokers, chief economist Dermot O’Leary said yesterday.

That figure is also well ahead of the “average” cost of banking crises in developed economies over the past 40 years of 11% of GDP, he said.