It was not acceptable to the authorities that banks would attempt to achieve these higher ratios by curtailing credit to the real economy. A very important aspect of the capitalisation scheme is the agreement of the participating banks to develop specific credit policies targeted at small and medium sized enterprises, first time buyers and consumers generally.
As part of the response of the authorities to ongoing events, the Government last week made its decision to bring Anglo Irish Bank into full public ownership in order to secure the bank’s continued viability.