THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND has approved the latest €3.9 billion batch of bailout loans for Ireland.

The release of the loans was approved at a meeting of the IMF’s board in Washington last night.

The IMF has already released around €9.15 billion in loans to Ireland since the bailout programme was agreed late last year.

The latest batch of funds is the largest single disbursement since the distribution of just under €6 billion in January of this year, the first instalment under the scheme.

Ireland has incurred around €128 million in charges and interest on its previous IMF borrowings.

The release of the cash comes a day after the European Commission signed off on its own latest batch of bailout lending to Ireland.

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It yesterday released its fourth quarterly review of the financial assistance programme, which gave its blessing for the payment of €4.2 billion in bailout loans – bringing Ireland’s total borrowing from the Commission’s EFSM bailout vehicle to €18.1 billion.

The latest batch of Commission funding will be released in January, when another inspectorate of officials from the EU and IMF will visit in order to examine the impact of the 2012 Budget.

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