BoI may pass on cuts if funding ‘normalised’

A MORE “normalised” funding environment is needed for Bank of Ireland to pass on European Central Bank (ECB) interest rate cuts to customers on variable rate mortgages, US billionaire and shareholder in the Irish bank, Wilbur Ross said.

Bank of Ireland’s refusal to pass on the ECB’s recent quarter of a percent rate cut has put chief executive Richie Boucher on a collision course with Taoiseach Enda Kenny and the country’s central bank.

Ross, who owns 9% of Bank of Ireland, said that the lender’s high funding costs made it difficult to pass on the ECB rate cut.