Moves to allow euro zone rescue funds such as the European Stability Mechanism to directly recapitalise a member nation's banks are 'encouraging', but a big question mark remains over whether they will apply retrospectively to the likes of Ireland, the country's central bank governor said on Sunday.
"I'm very encouraged by the moves in that direction. But they are slow moves and there is a big question mark over the degree to which they would look back on what has happened in the past. This is something we have to be patient about," Patrick Honohan told national broadcaster RTE.
Honohan, who as Ireland's representative at the European Central Bank struck a key bank debt deal with the ECB this week.