/> A deal to rid Ireland of billions of euro in bank debt is in trouble this morning after fresh concerns were raised by the Germans, Dutch and Finns.
They are rowing back on a key agreement made in June which the government hoped would see European Union money pay for the bailout of Anglo Irish Bank.
After meeting in Helsinki yesterday the German, Dutch and Finnish Finance Ministers issued a joint statement.
In it they said that the European bailout fund should only be used to deal with current difficulties and would not apply to legacy assets.
Meanwhile the Finish Prime Minister has also said that Eurozone policymakers should discuss introducing International Monetary Fund (IMF)-style precautionary credits to help troubled states retain access to bond markets.
“It would mean a small, conditional loan to a country that wouldn’t take it but could use it when raising credit itself from the market” Jyrki Katainen told reporters yesterday.
The precautionary – or flexible – credit would underwrite the debt auction of the country.
He reiterated that Finland opposes increasing the size of the permanent bailout fund the ESM.
Newstalk’s Political Editor Shane Coleman told Breakfast the government has pinned its colours to the mast of this deal and any change would leave them in difficulty.
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