This morning the spread of Irish government 10 year bonds above the German benchmark was still more than 1½ percentage points, despite a sharp narrowing following the measures announced over the weekend. One way or another, commercial bank lending rates also come to embody the risk premia being paid by the national government. This is something that cannot be avoided.
In this way, payments can be settled faster and potentially also at lower cost. A direct connection is now also possible through the new China International Payments System (CIPS). Participating banks have been able to settle their payments directly with China via this system since 8 October 2015.