Charm offensive for EU bank chief

HOPEFULLY MINISTER for Finance Michael Noonan remembers to take his charm pills on Thursday when he meets Werner Hoyer, a man…

HOPEFULLY MINISTER for Finance Michael Noonan remembers to take his charm pills on Thursday when he meets Werner Hoyer, a man we need to get onside.

Hoyer is president of the European Investment Bank, the European Union’s bank, which is likely to receive more firepower from EU leaders to boost lending into the real economy in the form of long-term loans for capital and infrastructure projects.

Because Ireland no longer has a AAA credit rating, it doesn’t cut the mustard in terms of the EIB’s lending criteria and so it can’t currently borrow from the bank.

Fortunately, Mr Noonan isn’t letting a little problem like our junk status get in the way – according to reports, the Minister is optimistic that a deal can be done to get access to EIB funding.

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“He [Mr Hoyer] would like to sort out the problems Ireland has because at the moment the EIB is over-committed in a lot of countries but is under-committed in Ireland, so there is scope for expansion,” Mr Noonan was reported as saying in June.