Ireland’s banks have received a good wad of cash to help with their troubled balance sheets. Hopefully, the government’s helping hand will goad banks to return to the business of banking and provide loans to an expanding economy. Investors may play the government’s move with an Ireland close-end fund (CEF).
The Irish government will try to relieve the pressure on its banks by taking over $100 billion worth of bad real estate loans, reports Stephen Beard for Marketplace.
So far, the Irish government has done a good job with handing its budget deficits, says Owen O’Callaghan with BNP Paribas. The government has cut unnecessary spending, or at least spending that is not matched by revenues. However, if borrowers default on the troubled loans that the government hast just acquired, the Irish government could end up owning a lot of empty commercial property.
After Ireland launched its “bad bank” scheme and outlined plans to replenish their capital base, the public’s reaction was varied, report Steve Slater, Padraic Halpin and Andras Gergely for Reuters.