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THE European Central Bank has said Ireland will not need a second bailout while the banks are well capitalised.
Board member Joerg Asmussen also told RTE in a radio interview that the ECB is willing to work with the Government on a deal on the over €30bn in Anglo promissory note debt.
However, he added he was not aware of any particular proposals while Ireland will have to honour its bank debt if it is to re-enter the bond markets to raise money.
The country is currently depending on EU/ECB/ IMF bailout loans and funds from the National Pension Reserve Fund.
“Our view is clearly that Ireland will not need additional official funding after the end of the programme," he said. "Our base line scenario is very clearly that Ireland can gradually re-access the markets during the programme, in the next year."
Mr Asmussen said that the banks will have to deal with loss-making ECB-tracker mortgages in a bid to restoring “viability and profitability.”
His comments echoed those of Merrill Lynch, despite fears of a wider problem in the eurozone area and concerns that Spain will only avoid a bailout scenario if the ECB intervenes.
Italy also came under pressure in a bond auction today while new figures from Greece showed that unemployment stood at 21.8pc in January.
Merrill Lynch’s Bill O’Neill, who is chief investment officer for Europe, Middle East and Africa, said that Irish bonds have been “rock solid” over the past weeks even as the debt of other peripheral countries has fallen.
