MINISTER FOR Finance Brian Lenihan will begin the first leg of his tour of European financial capitals on the last week of April, his department said this weekend.
Mr Lenihan disclosed in his Budget speech on Tuesday that he intended to visit the four main financial centres in Europe in coming weeks as part of an effort to restore Ireland’s reputation among foreign investors.
He plans to meet bond-market investors, other market players, the financial press and politicians in his visits to Milan, Frankfurt, Paris and London in late April and early May.
He will be accompanied by officials from the National Treasury Management Agency, his department, other Government agencies and, possibly, representatives from the three biggest Irish stockbrokers – Davy, Goodbody and NCB.
A spokesman for the Minister said this weekend that the visits were likely to take place across two trips, taking in two financial centres each. The rationale for spreading the visits across two trips, a small period apart, is that it is likely to generate more coverage in local financial media.
Mr Lenihan disclosed that he intended to make the trip in his Budget speech. He said the tough measures taken in the Budget would restore confidence in the Irish economy but the measures needed to be communicated to prospective investors and foreign lenders.
“These visits will give me the opportunity to communicate more effectively with foreign investors about our plan for renewal.”
The motivation for the trip derives from his official visit to London for the St Patrick's Day celebrations in March. During that visit, Mr Lenihan met with the editorial board of the Financial Timesand also made himself available for a press conference with the Foreign Press Association there.
Mr Lenihan’s advisers believe that the exercise – which gave him an opportunity to address aspects of the negative coverage about Ireland’s economic situation – was a success and was reflected by more positive coverage in the media.
During that visit he rejected the proposition that the Government’s response to the crisis had been timid. “Our recession is somewhat worse than the rest of the world because there’s a domestic housing contraction taking place at the same time. That has put pressure on the banking system and on the State finances but we will address those issues.”
Sources in the Department of Finance said Mr Lenihan is confident that his whistle-stop tour of financial centres will help restore confidence and convince bond and other investors that the Government has got to grips with the financial situation.
“He is better when he goes off-script and is generally very comfortable in such situations. He is used to the format of Dáil committees, which will be similar to what he plans during the visit,” said one source close to the Minister.
The Budget measures unveiled last week were intended in part to address concern in international markets about Ireland’s public finances. The increasing yield spread for Irish bonds, compared to the German standard, gave rise to concern that the Government would have difficulty in raising debt on international markets.
