Profiling the Cross-Border Funding of the Irish Banking System

Between 2002 and 2008, there was a surge in foreign funding ows to the Irish banking system. This unprecedented increase in in ows was a key driver of the credit boom in Ireland. In the wake of the domestic banking and global nancial crises, the Irish banking system experienced a sharp decrease in its foreign wholesale funding. This Economic Letter addresses two primary questions: (i) who funded the Irish banking system during the boom?; and (ii) how did foreign funding contract in the post-September 2008 environment? The UK and the international interbank market are found to be the predominant funding sources for the Irish banking system during the credit boom. Funding originating from banks in the UK accounted for the most pronounced contraction.