EC hints at second bailout for Ireland and banks

The European Commission has given it’s strongest signal so far that it believes Ireland could need a second bailout and that the banks could need more funds.

The three-page assessment of the country’s economic programme for the next three years noted that the Troika programme was on track with the country meeting all the targets. However, it concluded that, following the Commission’s latest assessment of the economy, “the risks with regards to long-term sustainability of public finances appear to be high”.

The banks, which have already received over€60bn of taxpayers money, will find it hard to meet further deleveraging targets because of the poor quality of the debts they hoped to sell, and tough market conditions.