Noonan: €4bn being repayed by AIB will be used to start reducing debt
The Finance Minister Michael Noonan has welcomed news that AIB is to begin repaying up to €4bn to the taxpayer.
Minister Noonan said the money would go towards repaying the national debt instead of towards day-to-day spending.
The EU's bank regulator gave permission this morning for the bank to start repaying some of its emergency aid, ahead of an eventual return to private ownership.
Michael Noonan said today: "The money that was invested in AIB was borrowed, so the obvious thing to do is to reduce the borrowing which was incurred at the time by paying off the debt with the €4bn or so that comes in between now and this time next year."
