State could recoup bailout funds

THE Government may try to transfer part of the €62 billion cost of bailing out its banks to the euro region’s rescue fund should policymakers allow the facility to buy stakes directly in lenders, three people with knowledge of the matter said.

The state may seek to recoup a portion of the €20.7bn it spent bailing out Allied Irish Banks from the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), said two of the people, who declined to be identified because no decision has been made.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan has indicated he may use the EFSF to replace some of the €29bn the government provided Anglo Irish Bank, the first to be nationalised.