Troika nears ‘consensus’ on Anglo bill

The troika is coming to a consensus on helping Ireland reduce its €3.1bn-a-year bill to pay off €30bn in promissory notes used to bail out Anglo Irish Bank, now called the Irish Bank Resolution Corp.

Yesterday, the IMF’s deputy mission chief to Ireland, Craig Beaumont, said during a conference call with reporters: “There is a lot of consensus. It is still a work in progress but fundamentally the underlying process has attracted a lot of consensus.”

Mr Beaumont said an agreement by the IMF, EU and ECB on the promissory notes would “reinforce” Ireland’s debt sustainability. However, while he thinks it “is reasonable at this stage” to expect plans for modest fundraising in 2012 will be achieved, he said there is a more substantial need for market funding in 2013 where the risks are on the “high side” and he would like to see these reduced.