IMF agrees to give Ireland 3.9bn euro loan

The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday said it had agreed to lend Ireland 3.9 billion euros, as part of an effort to help the country avoid default. The IMF announced the "immediate disbursement" of the funds after a review of Ireland's reform efforts. The country has now received around 13 billion euros of a 23 billion euro program agreed in 2010. The IMF had earlier praised Ireland's implementation of tough budget-cutting reforms, making the dispersal of this part of the loan a near-certainty. IMF loans are usually contingent on Fund-approved reforms being put in place. The IMF said the loan was "part of a financing package amounting to 85 billion euros (about US$110.44 billion) also supported by Ireland's European partners."