The government guarantee on all deposits in specified Irish Banks was due to expire at the end of September but this afternoon they received approval from the European Central Bank to extend it to the end of December.
In summary, all amounts on deposit with the main Irish banks will be fully guaranteed now until December 31st 2010
Excerpt from Irish Times online this afternoon:
The European Commission has extended until the end of December the State’s guarantee over the liabilities of Irish banks.
The Commission said today the scheme was “an appropriate measure of remedying a serious disturbance in the Irish economy”. The scheme was due to lapse on September 29th and the Government had been seeking to extend it at least until the end of the year. The guarantee was first issued for some €400 billion of bank liabilities at the height of the credit crisis in September 2008.
The guarantee, which was originally for two years, was amended last year to give banks scope to issue debt with maturities of up to five years, but still with a 2010 issue deadline and periodically reviewed by Brussels.
Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan welcomed the decision to extend the guarantee. “This scheme will continue to support the funding needs of the financial system so it can assist in the economic recovery, through providing credit to protect and create jobs,” he said.
Retail deposits of up to €100,000 are unaffected, and are protected under the deposit guarantee scheme, which has no end date.
