The central bank of Europe is trying to reach an agreement that would keep struggling Irish banks operating during in the coming years to replace the existing aid program designed to cover short-term needs, according to The Wall Street Journal. An official from the European Central Bank revealed that the new facility would replace the Emergency Liquidity Assistance program that has offered funding to Irish banks for short-term emergencies since the summer of 2010. The program has doled over €60 billion in outstanding loans to Irish banks as of February in addition to €117 billion through traditional monetary operations.
The official suggested that the central bank is seeking to create a “Facility for Bank Under Restructuring,” which would offer regulators to spend the necessary time to thoroughly restructure the Irish banking system. The news comes just ahead of the planned release of the results of the latest round of stress tests, which have been projected to show a capital shortfall in the neighborhood of €20 billion, which is double the amount earmarked by the European Union, International Monetary Fund, and ECB in the bailout deal. A timeline for the program has not been decided.