Debt crisis: as it happened - June 15, 2012

NICOSIA (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund and the European Commission backed Ireland's calls on Friday to lighten the cost of its bank bailout, a move they hope will bolster the island's borrowing prospects and help wean it off international support. Debt-laden Ireland wants the terms tied to up to 31 billion euros of IOUs pumped into two failed banks eased, and for the euro zone's rescue fund, the European Stability Mechanism, to take over Dublin's stakes in other lenders. ...

IRISH government bond yields have spiked to new records (the chart for the ten-year is at right), behind what some are calling a "buyers' strike":

Cliff Wachtel submits: Dear EU/IMF Leaders: There are rumors cited here that Ireland is close to an IMF bailout agreement. I hope they’re true, and that you did indeed learn from mistakes last year. Let’s just cut to the chase.

America’s new treasury secretary Jack Lew has demanded that Europe do more to grow its austerity-afflicted economy amid concerns that Portugal was heading towards its second international bailout, reports The Guardian. Reflecting deep anxiety in the Obama regime about the risks posed by the single currency’s prolonged double-dip recession, Lew used a visit to Brussels to urge expansionary measures.

The IMF has urged Europe to follow through on its pledge to ease Ireland's debt burden by directly recapitilising its banks, which could cut the country's debt by up to 15pc.

Cliff Wachtel submits: Just as September and October have become known as potential crash seasons for stocks, could the year-end be taking on similar bad vibes for the EURUSD? The overall EURUSD situation is eerily familiar to that of a year ago.