Crunch time in bid to cut EU loan rate

THIS will be a crucial week for the country as the Government tries to convince the EU to cut interest rates on its loan and, at the same time, secure changes to the bank debt and restructuring.

With just a few days left to convince eurozone countries and the ECB that Ireland’s problems are also Europe’s, Michael Noonan will attend a key finance ministers’ meeting in Brussels this morning.

He will focus on discovering just what his fellow ministers will accept from Ireland in exchange for reducing the interest rate on the multi-billion euro loan from 5.8% to at least 4.8%.