Irish premier says EU-IMF bailout could total euro85B

[November 24, 2010]  DUBLIN (AP) -- Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen says the EU-IMF bailout fund for his cash-strapped country could total euro85 billion ($115 billion) but has yet to be agreed.

Cowen told lawmakers Wednesday that "an amount in the order of euro85 billion has been discussed." He was responding to Irish media reports that this would be the total aid offered.

The premier spoke hours before his government publishes a four-year austerity plan, a prerequisite for Ireland's receipt of any EU-IMF aid.

The plan seeks euro10 billion ($13.3 billion) in spending cuts and euro5 billion ($6.7 billion) in tax increases so that Ireland's 2014 deficit can be reduced to 3 percent of gross domestic product, the euro-zone limit. Ireland's deficit this year is forecast to reach 32 percent, a modern European record.

[Associated Press; By SHAWN POGATCHNIK]

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