EU Agrees to Ireland Bailout

'Tens of billions' will shore up foundering banks
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Nov 21, 2010 12:38 PM CST
Updated Nov 21, 2010 2:56 PM CST
EU Agrees to Ireland Bailout
In this Nov. 15, 2010 file photo, a man sells newspapers in Dublin, Ireland.   (AP Photo/Peter Morrison, File)

Ireland officially hit the EU up for a loan today, after weeks of denying its debt-ridden banks needed a bailout. European Union finance ministers quickly agreed to the bailout, saying it "is warranted to safeguard financial stability in the EU and euro area." The amount remains to be decided. Ireland's Finance Minister Brian Lenihan refused to specify the size of the bailout, saying only that it would reach tens of billions of euros—and denying that it would top $137 billion, as some had speculated.

Ireland will use the money to pay its current deficit of $26 billion, and shore up its banks, which have been reeling since its housing market crashed in 2008. Dublin is also simultaneously finishing up an austerity budget today.
(More Ireland bailout stories.)

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