Ireland: Leaving the Bailout

Ireland left the bailout in December 2013. It was the first EU country to leave the bailout programme and what should have been an historical day really didn't amount to much. Few Irish people even knew what conditions Ireland was allowed to leave the bailout under, and this is what gave me inspiration to start this blog. It turns out Ireland is not becoming financially independent and stable. Ireland could only leave the bailout because the National Assets Management Agency had €20 billion in cash reserves and because the ECB reduced Irish interest rates. The German Development Bank KFW now has to give direct loans to small and medium sized Irish businesses, as the Irish banks are still unable to offer loans at realistic interest rates. The troika are still going to make twice yearly inspections of the Irish economy. This all means that the Irish banking crisis is far from over and it is unlikely that Ireland will reduce its dependency on the Troika in the near future.