State exposure under Bank Guarantee Scheme falls to €346bn

IRELAND’S potential exposure under the Government’s Bank Guarantee Scheme has fallen from a high of €427 billion at the beginning of the year to €346bn by the end of June.

However, figures released in the Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) show that as a proportion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Ireland’s exposure at 261% of GDP is far greater than that of any advanced economy.

Britain’s scheme gives it the next highest exposure at 51.1% of the GDP, followed by Sweden at 47.5% and the Netherlands at 33.9%.