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Debt Crisis

Investor poll says majority expect Ireland to default

Bloomberg’s poll of global investors shows international concerns over possible Irish default.

A POLL OF GLOBAL INVESTORS shows that the majority believe Ireland will default on its sovereign debt, according to Bloomberg.

In Bloomberg’s poll of 1,030 customers, 51% said they regarded an Irish default as “likely”, while 42% say it is “unlikely”.

Those polled include investors, analysts and traders. One respondent, Ned Lott from MF Global Inc, said: “Ireland will default in the next 18 months”.

The poll ranked Greece as most likely to default (according to 71%), followed by Ireland, and then Portugal (38%).

In an apparent effort to ease investor’s fears over European sovereign debt, a joint announcement from EU leaders at the G20 summit in South Korea said that plans for a new system of dealing with euro-region debt crisis won’t apply to outstanding debt, and won’t be in place until 2013.

Germany’s Angela Merkel had earlier announced plans to shift the burden of a debt default onto bondholders and investors, rather than taxpayers.

Brian Cowen and Brian Lenihan have blamed Merkel’s comments for the spike in Irish bond prices, as investors worry about the potential cost of their risk.

Ireland’s 10 year bonds have been falling gradually this morning.