Today matters

17th August, 2010

Over the last week the spread on Irish Credit Default Swaps increased considerably. This put Ireland as the second highest risk in the Euro Zone. This measures the likelihood of a default on our Government Debt.

This is very much at odds with the rhetoric from this Government which regularly references our international reputation. We’ve seen other economies (Portugal and Spain) introduce more budgetary cuts. We’ve also seen the cost of our banking plans increase.

Last week we had to offer a better yield in a debt auction. Today the NTMA are looking to auction another €1.5 billion. What happens will be the real test of our reputation.