Donohoe sets in train state’s exit strategy from stake in banks

The finance minister is commencing the process of selling off the government’s shareholding in Bank of Ireland, but is now the right time to do so, and are investors about to bag themselves a bargain?

Paschal Donohoe’s press conference had been called to discuss plans announced on Wednesday morning to offload part of the state’s 13.9 per cent share in Bank of Ireland, a stake worth just shy of €700 million

Keen observers of the state’s investments could have been forgiven for feeling a sense of déjà vû last week, when they herd Paschal Donohoe’s remarks on the planned sale of the government’s shareholding in Bank of Ireland.

“I was always very clear, and have been for many years, that over time I do want to find opportunities to unwind the shareholding that we have in our banks,” the Minister for Finance told reporters.

His press ...