PARIS (MNI) – Ireland’s official creditors are considering making
significant changes to the terms of the country’s bailout agreement to
ensure that it can return to the markets, the Irish broadcaster RTE
reported Monday, citing sources.
RTE said that the troika – the European Commission, the IMF and the
European Central Bank – are considering allowing Ireland to pay back its
official loans over 30, rather than 15 years.
The report said the troika believes that Ireland has been sticking
to its bailout commitments and that its borrowing costs would be lower
if not for the intensification of the Eurozone crisis.
The IMF said in a report issued Friday that with Ireland nine-year
bond yields currently at 7.4%, “entering bond markets at reasonable cost
and on the scale needed in 2013 and thereafter will require a
substantial improvement in market conditions.”
The RTE report said that the issue had not yet been officially
raised with either the Irish government or with EU leaders.
–Paris newsroom, +33144715540; jduffy@marketnews.com
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