Borrowings of banks fall by 12%

IRISH banks’ borrowings from the European Central Bank and the Central Bank of Ireland fell by 12% in April, primarily due to the country’s debt agency temporarily placing deposits with some lenders.

The banks are reliant on central bank loans to fund their day-to-day operations due to tens of billions of euro in deposit outflows and their exclusion from interbank lending markets.

The banks’ ECB borrowings fell to an eight-month low of €106 billion as of April 29, compared to €114.5bn on March 25.