European Commission to support cut in bailout rate

A CUT in the cost of the EU/IMF bailout is expected to be on the agenda for next week’s EU finance ministers meeting and the European Commission will support it, according to a spokesperson for economics chief Olli Rehn.

The commission welcomed the fact that under the results of the bank stress tests Ireland would have to draw down €11 billion less than was provided for the banks in the EU/IMF programme.

They said the stress tests that resulted in the banks needing €24 billion in capital were very credible, setting even tougher conditions than the tests on about 90 other EU banks planned for June.