Ireland Likely to Win Break on Banking Debt as Treaty Vote Looms
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Irish Central Bank Governor Patrick Honohan said the state will probably be able to sidestep a March cash payment on its bank debt, boosting the government as it seeks to win voter backing for Europe’s fiscal treaty.
On March 31, the state is due to make a 3.1 billion-euro ($4.1 billion) cash payment to the former Anglo Irish Bank Corp., which is supposed to use the funds to reduce its emergency central bank borrowings. Instead, the lender may use the funds to buy a new Irish government bond, meaning no net cash outflow from the state, Honohan told lawmakers in Dublin, as talks with European authorities continue.