ECB: Ireland must begin selling €25bn bonds

The ECB has issued a mild warning to Ireland that it must stick to its bargain to begin the sale of €25bn worth of bonds it converted from the Anglo Irish Bank promissory notes last year.

Part of the bank’s annual report investigated how it had performed on the issue of it not being allowed to engage in monetary financing — fund governments by buying their bonds cheaply — and concluded that “in general” the rule had been respected.

It added that the “liquidation of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) raises serious monetary financing concerns. These concerns could be somewhat mitigated by the disposal strategy of the Central Bank of Ireland”.