IMF Approves 22.5 Billion Extended Arrangement for Ireland
Baku, December 18 (AZERTAC). The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today approved a three-year Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement for Ireland to support the authorities` economic adjustment and financial stabilization program. The Fund arrangement amounts to SDR 19.5 billion (about EUR22.5 billion; or US$30.1 billion), or the equivalent of about 2,322 percent of Ireland`s IMF quota. The arrangement forms a critical part of a substantial financing package amounting to EUR85 billion (about US$113 billion) from Ireland`s European partners through the European Financial Stabilization Mechanism (EFSM) and European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), and bilateral loans from the UK, Sweden and Denmark, and Ireland`s own contributions.
The EFSM, EFSF and bilateral European lenders will provide EUR45 billion on similar maturities as the IMF`s EFF. The Irish authorities will round out the total financing package through a contribution amounting to EUR17.5 billion from the nation`s cash reserves and liquid assets. European Central Bank liquidity support is also an essential component of the overall economic and financial program.
"The Irish authorities have designed an ambitious policy package to address the economic crisis facing the nation," IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn stated. "It is a multi-year program targeting vulnerabilities in the banking system and aiming to restore prospects for growth--without which there can be no enduring solution to the crisis. The authorities designed a program with fairness in mind so that the burden of economic and financial adjustment is shared across all levels of society, with the most vulnerable groups the most protected."
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