Banks’ emergency funds reliance falls

Irish banks’ reliance on emergency funding from the ECB fell by 5% in July from a month earlier, with outstanding loans dropping to €43.6bn, according to the Central Bank.

Ireland’s viable banks have trimmed their day-to-day dependence on ECB funding from a high of €187bn in Feb 2011 by shrinking their balance sheets and making a tentative return to capital markets.

The Central Bank also disclosed that there was a 0.04% increase in the average interest rate banks charged on their mortgage lending in June compared with the previous month, even though the main ECB rate was reduced by 0.25% over that period.