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In numbers: What the stress tests think of the Irish economy

Image: trekkyandy via Flickr

The following is a collection of figures, assumptions and projections as outlined in the latest batch of Central Bank stress tests, released this evening.

€24,000,000,000 – the approximate amount that must now be invested into the banking sector by the state so as to recapitalise them for a ‘worst case scenario’ outlined in the tests.

€70,000,000,000 – the approximate running total that will have been invested by the state in the banking sector to date, when today’s €24bn total is included.

€67,500,000,000 – the amount being borrowed from the European Central Bank, European Union and International Monetary Fund under the terms of Ireland’s bailout agreed last November.

€10,000,000,000 – the amount from Ireland’s national pension reserve fund which is being invested into the banks now, in the current phase of recapitalisation.

€15,709.16 – the amount being invested in the banking sector by each man, woman and child resident in the State.

€140,718,000,000 – the total amount in residential mortgages held by the four institutions being appraised in today’s stress tests – AIB, Bank of Ireland, Irish Life & Permanent, and EBS Building Society.

€9,491,000,000 – the amount of those loans which will have to be written off by the four banks in a worst case scenario; in the ‘base’ scenario more anticipated by the tests, €5.838bn would be written off.

45,000 – the approximate number of home repossessions that could take place in that worst-case scenario – a level economist Ronan Lyons believes is exceptionally aggressive and will never be realised.

€332,000,000 – the current market value of AIB, according to its share price, before trading in its shares was suspended overnight.

€13,300,000,000 – the amount the state is now putting into that bank, obliterating any outstanding public ownership in what was previously Ireland’s biggest bank.

€1,166,000,000 – the market value of Bank of Ireland, in which the State already held a 36 per cent stake…

€5,200,000,000 – …and the amount the State is now investing in it.

€112,000,000 – the value of Irish Life and Permanent before shares were suspended in it on Wednesday morning, based on a share value of 40.5c – down from a peak of almost €23 just over three years ago.

€4,000,000,000 – the amount the State is now putting into IL&P, easily bringing the institution into majority state ownership.

15.8 per cent – the peak level of unemployment suggested by the stress tests, to be hit in 2012.

14.7 per cent – the level of unemployment in the most recent CSO figures – only slightly off its peak in the current economic downturn to date.

32.92 per cent – the worst-case scenario drop in house prices over the next two years, with houses losing a sixth of their value in 2011 and a little more than that in 2012.

6 – the number of Irish-based or Irish-owned banking institutions covered by the State’s bank guarantee when it was introduced in September 2008.

6 – the number of those guaranteed institutions which will now be either totally, or majority, owned by the State once the current recapitalisation has been completed (assuming that Bank of Ireland cannot raise the €5.2bn it now requires from any other sources).

€0 - the amount that former finance minister Brian Lenihan thought the bank guarantee would cost the State, declaring in September 2008 that the national guarantee would be enough to stave off any threat to the viability of the Irish banking sector.

State must shell out another €24bn to banking sector >

Finance Minister announces “radical restructuring” of Irish banking system >

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Comments (18 Comments)

  • Brian Daly 31/03/11 #
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    That last figure just sums it all up really.

    And he was re-elected!

    I don’t get this country sometimes….

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  • John Buckley 31/03/11 #
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    Just quickly flick past the numbers! It’s scary!

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  • Alan Conroy 31/03/11 #
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    Google it: John 11:35

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  • Report this comment

    Yes these figures are scary. Especially when you think of how debts of this magnitude could be run up by a country as small as Ireland by just SIX financial institutions. This is the price of uncontrolled greed and corporate adventurism with other peoples money. What it tells us is that the financial sector are NOT trustworthy and as they are so important to the future of a nation they MUST be very tightly regulated with Draconian sanctions in place for any regulatory breach. Furthermore there should be NO bonuses paid to any of them until such a time as the situation is normalised.

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    • Jimk Kelly 01/04/11 #
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      They are well paid for doing a job,( badly ) why is it necessary to give them bonuses as well. Bonuses are performance related. They didnt do their job,Their performance was crap leading us into this present turmoil..they should get no financial rewards .they should have been put away.

  • Peter Cunning 31/03/11 #
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    Well it’s a good job that we had well paid high caliber executives running the banks, god knows what would have happened if we had morons running the banks. …. Oh wait….

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  • Colin Sweetman 01/04/11 #
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    And to think that the USA spends that much on just three fighter jets (€70Billion!)

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  • Derek Reilly 01/04/11 #
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    Yeah but compare us revenue to Irish revenue and you will see how they can afford it

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  • Shane Scannell 04/04/11 #
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    The final Zero figure sums the whole bloody mess up!! zero government awareness of the mess they created! It’s sad state of affairs in Irish politics that Brian Lenihan can get re-elected despite being one of the catalysts for the blanket bank guarantee! The Time has come to be smart and seek out the other world major players for funding – china, the middle east, the US and the UK (who have already pledged 7-8bn and not demanding outrageous interest rates). There is no doubt these countries would give us a portion of the total funding required to kick start the economy at far less draconian penal rates than being offered by the EU!!

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