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Words in the News

Ireland exits bailout programme
16 December 2013
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Ireland was one of the countries most hit by the Eurozone's financial crisis. Europe and
the International Monetary Fund stepped in with loans to the Irish government worth
totalling 67.5bn euros. Now, three years on, the bailout is formally over and Ireland will
have to meet its borrowing needs in the financial markets. The BBC's Economics
correspondent Andrew Walker reports.

It is being called Ireland's exit from the bailout. If all goes to plan Ireland will receive no
more financial assistance. It does not mean that the money has been repaid - that will
take until 2042.

Ireland will still need to borrow - and all the signs are that it will be able to do so in the
financial markets at an affordable cost. The country's economy has shown signs of
stabilisation. It has grown, though erratically, and unemployment is down from its
highs. But living standards have been hit - the economy is still 9% smaller than it was six
years ago.

This is an important stage in the Eurozone's financial repair effort. Ireland is the first
country to be bailed out to get to this stage. Portugal is due to do it next year, though
there are concerns that it might need more financial help.

Greece and Cyprus are further away from getting back on their feet financially. It
certainly helps that the recession in the Eurozone has ended - that the economy of the
region as a whole has started to grow again. But it is still feeble growth.

Europe needs stronger performance to generate the tax revenue that could really help
struggling governments get control of their borrowing needs.

Words in the News British Broadcasting Corporation 2013

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 Vocabulary and definitions

affordable reasonably priced

stabilisation normalisation; reaching a state where there are no more

changes or problems

erratically irregularly

getting back on their recovering

feet

feeble weak

revenue income from business earnings or (here) taxes

Read and listen to the story and the vocabulary online:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2013/12/131216_witn_bailout.shtml

Related story:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25339066

Words in the News British Broadcasting Corporation 2013

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