Ireland: walking without crutches

Ireland will become the first of four eurozone bail-out countries (the others are Greece, Spain and Portugal) to complete its rescue programme at the end of this year. It has announced that when it exits the three-year assistance programme, it will do so without the safety net of a precautionary credit line European money set aside that it could tap if it has trouble raising money in the markets.

What the commentators said

And of course it helps, added Karl Whelan on Forbes.com, that Ireland has already managed to raise €21bn from the markets, which covers its borrowing needs for 2014. But it's still "not out of the danger zone", said Deutsche Bank. Market interest rates could rise, raising Ireland's future borrowing costs, if it emerges that banks, which bankrupted the state, still don't have enough capital: stress tests are due soon and the number of home loans in arrears has been rising. And given the massive debt load still weighing down the domestic economy, it's not clear that consumption and investment can add much to the export boost. With "much still to prove", it will be some time before Ireland exits "the orbit of this crisis".

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