Brussels, 26/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - The troika of international lenders (the European Commission, the ECB and the IMF) is pleased with the way Ireland is applying it structural adjustment programme, a condition of its €67.5 billion aid package over three years. In a press release issued on Thursday 26 April at the end of a new quarterly fact-finding mission to Dublin, the Commission said that Ireland is continuing to resolutely implement its economic programme, despite the huge challenges that remain to be tackled. The next instalment of aid (€3.7bn, of which €1.4bn is from the IMF and €2.3bn from the EU) will now be paid.
The public spending cuts are continuing as planned. In 2011, Ireland's public deficit, not including the cost of bailing out the banks, was 9.4% of GDP, below the upper limit of 10.6%. The troika is confident that it will reach 8.6% in 2012, praising the stabilisation of returns on Irish bonds, but describing the interest rate as “high”.
The Irish government has made progress on growth stimulation and job creation policies and a working group has been set up to adjust the country's competitiveness and flexibility strategy without damaging social cohesion. In a press release, the troika says progress is crucial in this area to reduce the high rate of unemployment, and the improvements to the country's bank balance sheets must continue. Bank assets have been improved by addressing mortgage arrears and small business lending. The troika experts say that the changes to the personal bankruptcy rules will make it easier to absorb unaffordable debt and the Irish government is trying to strike a balance between lenders and debtors, while continuing Ireland's tradition of repaying its debts. The next troika meeting will be in July 2012. (MB/transl.fl)