Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

The Financial Times say Ireland's banking sector is utterly ruined Creative Commons
Financial Times

FT: Irish banking sector is 'utterly ruined'

The Financial Times has some harsh words for Ireland.

THE FINANCIAL TIMES has said “Ireland  has a problem few other countries have – an utterly ruined banking sector.”

The remarks were written in the prestigious LEX column, which sets the agenda in London’s financial district. The paper wrote the “austerity measures [Ireland] has taken are sufficient… [and] offer a model for other eurozone countries to follow”.

The paper remarked that Moody’s downgrade of Ireland’s debt on Monday “is a reminder of how far the country is from a sustained recovery even after it has implemented a brutal austerity package.”

The paper also highlights that “the spread over German bunds is now higher than it was at the peak of the crisis in early 2009.”

It says that bailing out the banking sector is estimated to cost €25bn, not to mention any money spent by NAMA. It is also concerned about the high level of non-performing loans in NAMA.