The Minister for Finance has completed a series of meetings with senior European officials where he sought support for the early repayment of some of Ireland’s bailout loans.
Michael Noonan said his meetings with ECB president Mario Draghi, Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem and European Stability Mechanism chief Klaus Regling today were “very positive”.
EU Commissioner Jyrki Katainen was said to have indicated his support for the plan at a similar meeting held with Mr Noonan yesterday.
The Government hopes to be able to borrow money from international markets, which it will use to repay €15bn of the €22bn loaned to the country by the International Monetary Fund as part of the 2010 bailout.
This should reduce the debt servicing costs, as the money would be borrowed at a lower rate than the one currently charged by the IMF.
However, under the terms of the bailout, all creditors’ loans must be paid back at the same pace unless the parties involved agree to a different arrangement.
Mr Noonan hopes the meetings held this week will lead to support from the European institutions that make up two parts of the Troika.
In a statement he said he would discuss the issue further at a meeting of EU finance ministers later this week.
