Noonan: Ireland will save €10bn on bailout loans

IRELAND is likely to save about €10 billion over the life of its EU/IMF loans, Finance Minister Michael Noonan has said.

The estimate is based on the cuts announced this week in interest rates to the €67.5bn EU/IMF bailout, and additional concessions agreed yesterday which Mr Noonan said could save taxpayers about €250 million per annum.

The interest on the European Financial Stability Fund portion of the bailout, which amounts to €17.7bn, had been reduced further by half a percentage point.