**The Irish government is expected to announce plans to invest even more money in the country’s struggling banking sector later.**The plans are expected to include increasing the government’s stakes in Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks, in which it already holds shares.
Bad loans worth billions of euros will also be moved from banks into the state’s “bad” bank, formed last year.
The Irish Republic’s banks continue to struggle following 2008’s crisis.
The country’s major banks were particularly hit by the collapse in the Republic’s property sector as well as the wider global financial crisis.
Following government investment to stabilise the banking sector last year, Irish taxpayers currently own 16% of Bank of Ireland, 25% of Allied Irish Banks and all of Anglo Irish Bank.
A national “bad” bank, named National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), was also set up to take on billions of euros-worth of toxic assets from the banks.
The transfer of the first loans into the NAMA is expected to be announced later. This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.