Awwal 03, 1432 H/Feb 06, 2011, SPA -- The European Union's financial stability fund (EFSF) has transferred 3.6 billion euros (4.9 billion dollars) to Dublin under the framework of the EU bailout for Ireland, the German Press Agency dpa learned Sunday from EU sources. The money is from a loan of 5 billion euros which the EFSF had raised at the end of January on capital markets, according to dpa. But Dublin is not getting that whole amount, since the EFSF is holding cash reserves to ensure that the fund can keep its triple-A credit rating and thereby the most favourable borrowing rates. The effective lending rate on the money sent to Dublin was put at 5.9 per cent. At the end of last year the eurozone members and International Monetary Fund hammered out a bailout package worth 85 billion euros to help Ireland cope with its financial crisis, triggered chiefly by a badly ailing banking sector.
