ECB’s Rulebook Puts Ireland in Same Risk Category as Germany
This article is for subscribers only.
For the European Central Bank’s rulebook, Irish government bonds belong to the same risk category as German bunds.
The Frankfurt-based ECB charges lenders putting Irish debt up as collateral in money-market operations the same premium as it does banks submitting benchmark German bonds, the central bank’s website shows. That’s because ECB lending conditions are based on the recommendations of four rating companies and one of them, Toronto-based DBRS Inc., puts Irish debt in the top class of collateral.