IMF says Ireland could return to makets if leaders stemmed contagion

International Monetary Fund deputy director Ajai Chopra said on Thursday that Ireland stood a good chance of making a return to markets if European leaders could stem contagion from the region's debt crisis.

Chopra said in Dublin yesterday after the IMF, European Commission and European Central Bank reviewed Ireland's budget that it was very important for all to look at the positive elements in the case of Ireland.

He added that Ireland's case needed to be judged by its own merits and he thought if some of the broader issues could be addressed there were good prospects of Ireland getting back to market access.

Ireland has been out of markets since September. The yield on its 10-year debt surged to 14 per cent earlier this week and the country, which was bailed out in November, joined Portugal and Greece on 12July as the third euro-area nation to see its credit rating reduced to junk.

Chopra said, the problems that Ireland faced were not just an Irish problem, they were a shared European problem and was needed was a European solution to a European problem.

He added what was critical now for Europe was to dispel the uncertainty that was being created by the lack of what was perceived by markets as an insufficient response.