Around the World: Ireland

$7b bank bailout likely

The Irish government is planning to inject a total of around 5 billion euros ($6.98 billion) into the country's three main banks in the first phase of a recapitalization process, two Irish newspapers said yesterday.

The move would involve an effective nationalization of Anglo Irish Bank, which has been at the center of a loans scandal, and significant investment in the two biggest financial institutions, Allied Irish Banks (AIB) and Bank of Ireland, the papers said, without specifying sources.