Hijjah 23, 1431, Nov 29, 2010, SPA -- European Union nations agreed to give Ireland a ¤67.5 billion ($89.4 billion) bailout to help it survive its massive banking crisis, and sketched out new rules for future emergencies to restore faith in the euro currency. The deal, approved Sunday at an emergency meeting in Brussels, means two of the euro zone's 16 nations have now had to be rescued and underscores Europe's struggle to contain its spreading debt crisis. With Greece and now Ireland shored up, the fear is that traders will target the bloc's other weak fiscal links, such as Portugal and Spain, according to a report of the Associated Press. The euro was slightly higher at $1.3279 in morning European trading Monday, up from $1.3237 in late trading in New York on Friday. In Dublin, Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen said his country will take ¤10 billion ($13.2 billion) immediately to boost the capital reserves of its state-backed banks, whose bad loans were picked up by the Irish government but have become too much to handle. Another ¤25 billion ($33 billion) will remain in reserve, earmarked for the banks. The rest of the loans will be used to cover Ireland's deficits for the coming four years. EU chiefs also gave Ireland an extra year, until 2015, to reduce its annual deficits to 3 percent of GDP, the euro zone limit.
