Ireland’s Aid Package Hinges on Rate as EU Bids to Quell Crisis

Ireland’s negotiations over an 85 billion-euro ($113 billion) aid package came down to setting the interest rate it will pay on emergency loans as European finance ministers battled to contain the fiscal crisis.

A “staff-level” accord on Ireland’s aid will be endorsed today, European Union Economic and Monetary Commissioner Olli Rehn said today in Brussels. French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said Ireland’s interest rate is the only “little detail” to be nailed down.