European Banks in Peripheral Countries Addicted to ECB Lending.

"The European Central Bank’s addicted bank problem continued through December, according to the latest lending figures from national central banks.

Irish banks borrowed 132 billion euros from ECB facilities as of the end of December, a 4.4-billion-euro drop from November, according to figures Friday from Ireland’s central bank. Irish banks still account for almost one-quarter of all ECB lending even though the economy accounts for less than 2% of euro zone GDP..."

at http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2011/01/14/european-banks-addicted-to-ecb-lending/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wsj%2Feconomics%2Ffeed+%28WSJ.com%3A+Real+Time+Economics+Blog%29