Thursday, November 4, 2010

Ireland May Have One Month to Stave Off Bailout


From Bloomberg.com:

Irish Finance Minister Brian Lenihan may have just one month to stave off an international bailout.

The extra yield that investors demand to hold Irish 10-year bonds over German bunds surged to a record today as Lenihan tries to put together a 2011 budget by Dec. 7 that convinces investors he can get the country’s finances in order.

“The behavior of international bond markets suggests the government’s various announcements haven’t convinced markets that we are on a credible, stable path,” said Karl Whelan, an economics professor at University College Dublin and a former economist at the Federal Reserve. “The budget is going to be crucial in determining if we can change that attitude.”

The premium on Irish bonds has doubled since August and is now wider than the spread on Greek debt four days before it sought a European Union-led bailout in April. That’s putting pressure on Lenihan to cut the deficit and overcome both an economic slump and the rising cost of bailing out the country’s banks......read on

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