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THE GOVERNOR of the Central Bank of Ireland is set to meet his eurozone counterparts today and explain Ireland’s case for a restructuring of Anglo Irish Bank’s promissory notes.
Patrick Honohan will state Ireland’s case at the monthly meeting of the European Central Bank’s governing council in Frankfurt, which will be chaired by ECB president Mario Draghi and attend by the governors of the other eurozone institutions.
The promissory notes are themselves owed directly to the Central Bank of Ireland, but any operation to permanently create new currency – as the operation to issue the notes did – requires ECB approval.
Without that approval, the notes are due for repayment as other loans would be – meaning the Irish state, through the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation which has subsumed Anglo, is responsible for repaying the loans.
The first annual repayment of the promissory notes, of €3.1 billion, is due at the end of the month.
The government has been seeking to restructure the loans so that they can be repaid over a longer period, in order to minimise the burden to the taxpayer.
In this morning’s Irish Times, Simon Carswell suggests that other options which may be considered include a second note, or a government bond, being substituted for this month’s cash payment so that discussions on restructuring the debt can continue without an immediate cash payment being required.
Cabinet ministers have openly suggested that although it will not be seen as a quid pro quo, a deal would help the government secure a Yes vote on the fiscl compact referendum.
Today’s meeting will also discuss whether to adjust the ECB’s main interest rates, though market expectations are that the rates will remain unchanged.
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I take it we will not get to hear what Honohan has to say as the meeting will be held behind closed doors?
Kerry to you want a personal phone call from the governor to check that the approach he is taking is perfectly acceptable to you. Grown ups use expressions sometimes to ensure that children don’t understand the conversations that they overhear and this Kerry would be the correct approach in this circumstance.
Do people not realise that all of this external comment and abuse being thrown at our politicians and particularly the French and Germans does actually reach their ears. They don’t like it Kerry and guess what……..they really don’t want to help people who behave in such a boorish way towards them.
So why don’t we just let these most able people such as the Governor of the Central Bank and other like our Minister for Finance and Taoiseach get on with it without the supporting cast of idiots.
Peter, Kerry and others want us to negotiate in public using megaphones, regardless of the negative impact this has on the outcome.
Peter, Peter, oh Peter! Why don’t you forgo your bank account savings and mortgage to a chap called lets say Enja! He can go into the bank and renegotiate your savings and loans with an outcome where u once had credit now your a debtor! Then allow him to continue negotiate on your behalf on this debt without telling you! But u must continue to pay! How does it feel now! Patrick was vocal the morning we were pushed into this whole gig!!! So time to grow up!!
Peter
While I understand that certain discussions regarding our financial and economic position have to by necessity be conducted in private Kerry has a point and what annoys me most is the usual patronizing way in which you engage other commentors.
One of the most disastrous events in the recent history of the economic collapse of this country was the discussions carried out in unseemly haste late at night in Sept 2008 between government officials/politicians and senior bank officials agreeing the unlimited bank bailout. Regarding the ‘abuse’ of the Germans and the French I would just like to mention that the leaking of confidential Irish bugetary details through the Bundestag was hardly respectful of us. As for the Germans and the French ‘helping us’ (!) well i suggest YOU grow up and realize that each member of the EU by virtue of it’s incorporation stands equally in the eyes of it’s constitution and the assertion by the Germans and the French of some moral higher ground over other member states is repugnant to it’s very intent and meaning and amounts to usurpation.
Indeed grown-ups use phrases and words to hide the meaning of their conversations from children, often unsuccessfully, as the intelligence of the children is often underestimated by the ridiculously stupid ‘adults that are speaking.
Maybe our government and state authorities should take your example and when at matters above our understanding tell us to go outside and play!
Eileen.
While the skulduggery and incompetance of state officials and politiciansis well understood by those that have the wit to see and believe I also accept that in certain circumstances, like this one, we have to accept the bona-fides of certain people to act in our best interests giving the position they are put in by the disastrous polices of the present and last government.
While there is much I would criticize Patrick Honahan for I do believe that he has always been open to interview and discussion and is known as a straight talker.
His numerous positions before taking up the central bank job is impressive and he also worked with the IMF. Which would might be to our favour when we vote NO!!!
I admire Mr Honohan completely . I mean only for him we would not have known about the IMF / ECB in the first place in 2010.
He is a good man who as you say has an unscathed and remarkable CV.
Yes when we vote No ,this will be the man to oversee the mess.. I trust him .
I will be ignoring you donal now piss off
@ Donal, no worries. Yes Honohan is a decent man. If I remember correctly he was the one who actually made the last government admit they were talking to the ECB/EU/IMF. I’d listen to what he has to say carefully but to be honest I believe the only option for Ireland is to exit the Euro and default. Yes I’m fully aware that would mean a number of painful years but better a quick sharp shock with some light at the end of the tunnel rather then the death by a thousand cuts we are being forced to endure currently with no light or even any idea where the end of the tunnel might be.
Whats to negotiate? The terms of how the biggest injustice in the history of our state will be visited on our people? Write them off or push the repayment date back 90 years. Even FGs own Peter Matthews has told us there are alternatives available right now to this treasonous act of payment to a zombie institution. The end of this month we are due to pay an amount which would cover the cost of building 5 childdrens hospitals, and while crumlin is fundraising from the public for a desperately needed €3 million, over a thousand times that amount is about to be flushed down the toilet known as anglo. Not another red cent eh Leo??
Too Trueleft
to be honest I feel so upset and annoyed ,and agree with every thing you say here
What can we do ?
Peter, you know what I been listening for years to politicians and ‘highly qualified’ experts say for years that every thing is under control. Does the phase ‘soft landing’ ring any bells with you?
Part of the reason we are in the mess we are in is because we as a people thought the ‘most able’ were representing us – well we were wrong. What is going on currently is going to affect my future, my children and possible my grand children given that I think as a citizen and tax payer I have every right to ask what is being discussed behind closed doors.
I absolutely agree with you Kerry
I would have liked to see an open forum so that we can see how thiese
negotiations are conducted .
It would be interesting
Kerry, the problem is that you can’t negotiate these things in public. That’s like trying to play poker where everyone can see your cards.
Donal, We are talking about Ireland’s future and I believe the stake holders (we the citizens) have to know what those who claim to be negotiating on our behalf are asking and what their starting point is (. We also need to know the starting spot of the Troika (which I assume is no change). Then we can evaluate if we have been well served by those representing us. Possibly if there was a single politician in the main parties I trusted I might feel differently but for me it is way to late for people to be talking behind closed doors….
But you still can’t negotiate in public! That means we can’t ask our politicians to show us their cards before they enter negotiations as the other side certainly will never do that.
We had an election that decided who gets to negotiate for us. You may not like the results but that’s democracy.
I think the starting point of the Troika (especially the big bad IMF) is that our banking debt has to be restructured in our favour.
send a vulture to negotiate with other vultures .. nice..
have your say