Mr Somers said he was speaking as the former head of the NTMA and not for broker Goodbody, where he is chairman, nor for financial services firm Fexco, where is a non-executive director. In an interview with the Irish Examiner, Mr Somers said the economic crisis sparked by the Covid-19 fallout was by any measure severe and that the write-off of wealth was “staggering”. I think the banks have surplus capital at the moment which would allow them to take on more risk and lend,” Mr Somers said. He said there would be a push back against the idea of the State giving any guarantee to banks given the bitter experience of 2008. You need some sort of eurozone backing but someone would need to start it and small countries can get things done,” Mr Somers said.

Source: Irish Examiner March 23, 2020 21:00 UTC