Our banks push up Euro lending

Irish banks' borrowing from the European Central Bank rose significantly last month, increasing by €11.7 bn. According to new figures by the Central Bank, the total borrowed now stands at €97.3bn.

The ECB lent to all the banks in Ireland, including foreign lenders, a total of €138.2bn in November.

The Central Bank also said today that deposits from the Irish resident private sector were 6.7pc lower on a year-to-year basis in November.

There was a negative monthly flow of private sector deposits during November worth a total of €5.2bn. This brought the three-month average net outflow to €2.1bn. This compares with an average net monthly outflow of €677m in the three months to the end of October.

AIB said last month that it had lost €13bn in deposits since the end of June. Bank of Ireland shed €10bn of deposits in the third quarter while Irish Life & Permanent said it had suffered a €600m outflow in the same period.

Today's figures, provided by the Central Bank, also showed that lending to households and businesses fell again in November.

Loans to households last month fell at an annual rate of 4.8pc after a fall of 4.9pc in October. Lending for mortgages fell by 1.7pc on a yearly basis.