Ireland

As Ireland prepares to accept a rumoured €80bn euro European Union and IMF bailout to pull it from the mire of its financial crisis, fund managers consider what the contagion effect may be on the banking sector in the UK and Europe.

IRELAND IN NEED

The Irish government will not raise the country's low corporation tax rate in return for an EU-led bailout, as a French official said some view the rate as "almost predatory".

A team of EU and IMF inspectors will arrive in Ireland today to take a closer look at the nation's banking system and prepare for a possible €80bn bailout.

European Council president Herman van Rompuy warns the euro and wider EU face a "survival crisis" as the continent's sovereign debt crisis escalates.

Officials in Ireland and the EU yesterday moved closer to conceding the heavily indebted nation may require a bailout.

The G20 leaders converging on South Korea for the upcoming summit are set to clash over a deal to safeguard the global economic recovery.

Investors expect Moody's to cut its Aaa credit rating on Spanish debt by up to two levels after a three-month review it announced in June ends tomorrow.

Ireland's GDP contracted 1.2% in the second quarter, according to an initial estimate released today, confounding analysts' expectations of 0.5% growth.

Portugal has raised €750m (£641m) in a successful Government bond auction, following in the footsteps of other southern European nations.