Bank of Ireland Chief Executive Richie Boucher has signalled a rise in the bank's mortgage interest rates.
He was speaking after the bank this morning reported losses of just over €700m for the first six months of this year.
Mr Boucher said today that the bank had not passed on a recent interest rate rise by the European Central Bank to homeowners on variable mortgage rates.
But he warned that the bank could not continue to absorb higher costs of borrowing money on international markets without raising its own rates.
Figures from the bank this morning showed that just under 5% of its homeowner mortgages are in arrears, but the bank was engaging with its struggling customers.
Mr Boucher said he expected arrears to rise further due to higher unemployment and lower incomes.
The bank reported an overall pre-tax loss of just over €700m for the first half of the year, an improvement from the €1.2bn loss at the same stage last year, mainly due to a fall in the amount it set aside to cover potential loan losses.
