By Finbarr Flynn
Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Ireland’s Finance Minister Brian
Lenihan said that while there is a limit to support the country
can provide to Anglo Irish Bank Corp., the state’s reputation
must be protected.
“Of course, there has to be a limit,” Lenihan said in an
interview with national broadcaster RTE. “It is not a question
of keeping it afloat, it is a question of keeping the financial
reputation of the country afloat.”
Standard & Poor’s last week cut Ireland’s credit rating to
AA-, the lowest since 1995, citing the cost of supporting banks .
S&P said the state may need to inject as much as 35 billion
euros ($45 billion) into Anglo Irish, 10 billion euros more than
the lender said it needed on Aug. 31.
Anglo Irish’s excessive lending had threatened the
financial stability of the state, and “any responsible
government” has to deal with the matter, Lenihan said. The
capacity of the state to borrow money to meet expenditures andthe ability of other banks to fund themselves to stay in
operation is at stake, Lenihan said.
“Billions will have to be poured into this institution
over a long number of years on a cash flow basis, not this week
or next week,” he said.
For Related News and Information:
Top financial stories: FTOP <GO>
Government relief programs: GGRP <GO>
News on Ireland’s bad bank: NI NAMA <GO>
--Editors: John Simpson, Ben Livesey
To contact the reporter on this story:
Finbarr Flynn at +353-1-523-9523 or
finbarrff@bloomberg.net
