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Irish banks borrow a tad less from ECB

Friday, February 08 12:24:57

The reliance of Ireland's banks on emergency funding from the European Central Bank fell slightly last month, latest Central Bank figures show.

Irish banks had outstanding loans of E70.1 billion, down from E70.9 billion a month earlier, it said.

Emergency loans from the Central Bank also fell slightly to E39.8 billion last month.

Under a plan agreed with the European Central Bank yesterday, the Government will not have to tap such exceptional liquidity assistance (ELA) funding in future.

The country's viable banks remain heavily dependent on emergency funding to run day-to-day.

But they have trimmed that reliance from a high of E187 billion in February 2011 by shrinking balance sheets and making a tentative return to capital markets.