Irish banks' emergency borrowings fall 4pc

DUBLIN: Irish banks' reliance on emergency funds fell again in December and were at their lowest since mid 2010, with outstanding loans of 111 billion euros, down from 116 billion a month earlier, the country's central bank said on Friday.

Banks had 70.9 billion euros in outstanding loans from the European Central Bank (ECB) as of Dec. 28, down from 75.7 billion in November. Emergency loans from the Irish central bank fell a touch to 40.4 billion euros.

Irish banks remain heavily dependent on emergency funding to run their day-to-day operations, but have trimmed that reliance from a high of 187 billion euros in February 2011 by shrinking balance sheets and making a tentative return to capital markets.