Is it too grand a request that Irish banks pass on their share of the €442bn being pumped into Europe’s banking system by ECB over the next 12 months?
The ECB’s President Jean-Claude Trichet has denounced recipient banks for returning large sums of this injected cash which could be use to increase lending to individuals and companies alike.
Indeed, I was under the impression that the Government’s rescue mission was intended, in Brian Cowen’s words, to “bail out the Irish economy. It’s about trying to save the Irish economy, by having a proper banking system.”
With the two-fold layer of protection and injection we have now, we should really be starting to see a loosening of the cautious approach taken by our lenders. However, the opposite appears to be happening.
Nobody is asking for bad debts to be generated; it isn’t about setting future homeowners up for a potential repossession trap. Sensible lending, on the balance of it, is a favourable route to take, and could help stem the deflation of our economy.
Stimulus packages like that offered by the ECB should be used to reap the benefits intended.
Brian Strahan
via e-mail
