Why has the Government nationalised Anglo Irish Bank?
A To stop it going bust. The Minister for Finance said last night that depositors continued to withdraw money from the bank after the Government announced a recapitalisation prior to Christmas. It is clear that if this trend had continued, the bank would not have had sufficient deposits to cover its liabilities and would have become insolvent. The damage to the bank’s reputation by the revelations that the chairman of the bank, Seán FitzPatrick, hid details of his loans of more than €87 million, was a factor, according to the Minister. The amount of money taken out was not disclosed but the Minister conceded that the bank was “weakened”. Q Is the bank solvent? A Yes. The bank is solvent, it has cash and is now directly supported by the Government. It will have the same credit rating as the Government, currently triple-A, the highest possible and should have access to funding. “The Government unequivocally stands behind it,” said the Minister last night. Q Why didn’t the Government nati
