Ireland hopes to repeat Spanish deficit move

Ireland is hoping to cut its deficit by moving the interest paid on its bailout off the Government books if Spain succeeds in winning the same concession.

This year, Ireland will pay close to €1bn in interest on money borrowed to bail out the banks — and all this currently goes on the deficit, increasing it about 0.6%.

The Government has committed to getting the estimated deficit of 8.3% for this year down to 3% within three years, which means cutting budgets by around €3bn per annum.