IN BRIEF (Page 16)

Irish bank losses

Ireland's banks face losses of as much as 35 billion euros ($49 billion) through next year as the economy shrinks at an "unprecedented" pace, the International Monetary Fund said.

Gross domestic product will shrink a cumulative 13.5 percent in the three years through 2010 as the bursting of a decade-long property boom ripples through the economy, the Washington-based lender said in a report. The losses envisaged are bigger than those forecast by the biggest Irish securities firms.