By QUENTIN FOTTRELL
DUBLIN—The Irish government has given an additional €2 billion ($2.45 billion) to recapitalize Anglo Irish Bank Corp. ahead of the submission of the nationalized lender's restructuring plan to the European Union, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said Monday.
Economists regard Anglo as the leader of the pack among financial institutions that lent aggressively to property developers during Ireland's economic boom.
Anglo has received €4 billion in state capital, and Mr. Lenihan has committed an additional €8.3 billion to the bank. Above that, Mr. Lenihan has said the bank would likely need €10 billion over the next 10 to 15 years. The €2 billion committed Monday is part of the extra €10 billion.
Anglo had a net loss of €12.7 billion for the 15 months to Dec. 31, 2009, the biggest loss recorded in Irish corporate history, mostly due to bad debts. The bank said it recorded a net profit for the 12 months to Sept. 30, 2008, of €670 million, the only comparative period given.
The bank has already transferred €9.3 billion of loans to the National Asset Management Agency or "bad bank" at a discount of 55%.
