Hold on, Ireland! by Barbora Misakova

Being the best is what we have been taught since we were kids. And being the worst has always been some kind of warning. These days, when economy is bleeding and there are problems everywhere, being the best can be the same as being the worst. Greece is the best (or the worst?) example. Its debt rating was decreased in April to BB+ by Standard & Poor’s, what is a ‘junk’ status. But Greece, although it is the “best” player in this game, is not the only one who is playing it. Ireland was shaken up on Wednesday by latest decision of Standard & Poor to push its borrowing costs higher. After winning plaudits for moving quickly to tackle its deficit,! Ireland is once again surrounded by debt fears. Standard & Poor cut Ireland’s long-term rating by one notch from ‘AA’ to ‘AA-‘ as there are existing concerns that higher bill will be needed for supporting the banking sector. John Corrigan, the chief executive of the National Treasury Management Agency, has different point of view. “It is a bit like waking up the patient in the middle of an operation to tell him he is not feeling well.” he told Reuters Insider television. As he continued, Ireland realizes that situation is “pretty painful but we have to get to the end of the operation which will be in December.” While Standard & Poor’s estimate represents 45-50 billion Euros for recapitalizing the banks, Corrigan describes their analysis as “flawed”. Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen has been tackling the worst state deficit in Europe, but rising bill for bailing out nationalized lender Anglo Irish Bank ! threatens to eclipse his fiscal achievements.

related ! story (sgx18077): http://www.france24.com/en/20100825-ireland-credit-rating-do...

by Barbora Misakova for Cantell TV (http://cantell.tv)

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