More Money for Irish Banks

Brian Lenihan – Finance Minister  spoke today about funding shortfalls in the Irish Banks . He said AIB would need to raise €7.4bn by the end of the year to meet targets. It plans to start selling off assets in Poland, the US and Britain to help raise this, but the State will have to take a stake in the bank.

Bank of Ireland will require €2.7bn in new capital, but it is hoping to meet much if this from private sources.

Irish Nationwide will require €2.6bn of new funds from the Government, most of which will be payable over 10 to 15 years.
EBS will need €875m. The State will provide €100m by taking new shares in the society, which will give the Government full control.

Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan said the State would be providing €8.3 billion to Anglo Irish Bank this week alone, and that the bank may need a further €10 billion to cover its losses from bad property loans.

The State already owns Anglo Irish; it has an indirect stake of 25 per cent in AIB and a stake of 34 per cent in Bank of Ireland.
The investments in AIB and BoI will be in addition to €7bn that was provided in 2009. Anglo Irish recieved €4bn in 2009.