‘I would have handled Cyprus bailout differently’

Patrick Honohan says he would have taken a different approach to the Cyprus bailout although he declined to provide any details.

However, there would no repeat of the bailout template used for Cyprus, he added. Last month, the euro tanked and bond yields surged when the European Commission announced that the rescue of the Mediterranean country would involve the cut to depositors of over €100k.

Mr Honohan was speaking at the launch of the Central Bank’s annual report yesterday. He said the timing of the stress tests of the Irish banks still had to be decided. Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan, had recently stated he would like the stress tests to coincide with EU-wide stress tests next March.