National Irish gives Danes interest in helping out

DENMARK:THE DANISH government has signalled an interest in the provision of emergency bilateral loans to Ireland.

The indication from the authorities in Copenhagen that they are looking into an aid scheme follows pledges of emergency aid from Britain and Sweden.

It is perceived to flow from the presence in the Irish market of Danish bank Danske, owner of National Irish Bank (NIB), which would suffer if Ireland’s financial situation worsened.

The development came on the sidelines of an EU meeting in Brussels at which Danish foreign minister Lene Espersen told reporters that her government was examining Dublin’s request for aid from the European and International Monetary Fund authorities.

Denmark is not a member of the single currency, so it will not be participating in euro zone’s €440 billion loan guarantee scheme, which will be deployed in the course of the Irish rescue.

However, Danske’s control of NIB gives Denmark a clear interest in the achievement of financial stability in Ireland and a settlement of the banking crisis.

Denmark took part in a teleconference of all EU finance ministers on Sunday as the European authorities gave preliminary approval for an aid plan for Ireland. In total the package could be worth as much as €90 billion.

Swedish finance minister Anders Borg suggested non-EU countries Norway and Switzerland could join in the aid effort.