by Calculated Risk on 5/08/2011 06:33:00 PM

First on Ireland from the Daily Mail: We won't pay off our debt... Fine Gael Minister admits Ireland plans to restructure €250bn borrowings

Ireland will never repay the €250bn it has borrowed from the EU and IMF, senior government insiders have admitted – but we will not default until our ­EU partners agree we have no choice.

A senior minister last night told the Irish Mail on Sunday that the Cabinet expects our crippling debts to be ‘restructured’ within three years.
...
As Europe tried to ease the pressure with a 1% cut in our bail-out interest rate, ministers were admitting that the full amount could never be repaid.

‘It is not called defaulting – it’s code for a restructuring,’ said one senior minister.

And from the Irish Times: Rabbitte 'hopeful' of interest rate cut

Minister for Communications Pat Rabbitte Pat Rabbitte said today he “hopes” that Ireland will secure a lower interest rate on its bailout loans from the European Union.

EU finance ministers are to hold meetings on May 16th and 17th to discuss the bailout for Portugal. Ireland's bailout is also expected to be on the agenda.

Mr Rabbitte said today Ireland would continue to negotiate for reduced rates. "The decision has not yet been made," he said.

And on Greece from the WSJ: Greece Slips Farther Behind Budget-Cut Target

Greece has been slipping farther behind its targets for cutting its budget deficit and is expected to need nearly €30 billion ($43 billion) of extra financing for 2012, according to euro-zone officials.

The country's growing reliance on aid from other euro members is fueling a debate over whether Greece should hold talks with its private creditors about extending the maturity of its bonds, a step that Germany is quietly pushing but other euro nations are resisting.

Euro-zone finance ministers meeting in Brussels early next week are expected to debate Greece's debt burden, its need for additional aid, and its request for more time to meet its fiscal targets.

The meeting next week should be interesting ...

Weekend:
• Schedule for Week of May 8th
• Summary for Week ending May 6th
• Total Fannie, Freddie, FHA REO inventory declined in Q1, Fannie and Freddie REO Sales at Record Levels

Friday employment posts (with graphs):
• April Employment Report: 244,000 Jobs, 9.0% Unemployment Rate
• Employment Summary, Part Time Workers, and Unemployed over 26 Weeks
• Employment: A dirty little secret and more graphs
• Employment Graph Gallery