Noonan finishes troika talks ahead of bailout exit

Finance Minister Michael Noonan finished his troika of EU/ECB/IMF meetings after holding 45 minutes of talks in Washington with the International Monetary Funds officials as Ireland prepares the ground for its exit from the bailout in seven weeks’ time.

With the Government insisting it will not seek a precautionary credit line if the conditions are too onerous, yesterday’s discussions centred on how Ireland can exit the programme with credit facilities that aren’t any more stringent than existing EU budgetary commitments.

A Department of Finance spokesman said both sides discussed all the various options available to Ireland post-Dec 15.