Seen and Heard: Low interest rates for IBRC borrowers

More than 1,000 borrowers owing €9 billion to Irish Bank Resolution Corporation were paying interest rates on their loans of less than 2 per cent at the time the bank entered liquidation in 2013, according to the Sunday Business Post.

The paper says that they were all commercial borrowers and do not include Irish Nationwide mortgage holders.

The paper also reports that the estimated €500 million sale of the Mater Private hospital to NetCare, a South African company, has been shelved.

The Post speculates that the deal fell down at a late stage because the vendors were unsatisfied with the price. However, it is suggested that a management buyout of the hospital is still a possibility.

The Sunday Times says that Robert Watt, currently the secretary general of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, has emerged as the leading candidate to replace Patrick Honohan as governor of the Central Bank.

An open competition for the role will be held, however, the Times says that highly-regarded administrator Watt is a strong contender because of the need to restructure the bank's unwieldy organisational structure.

Rebranded

Elsewhere, the

Sunday Times

also reports that telecommunications provider

UPC

Ireland may be rebranded as

Virgin Media

.

The paper reports that a rebrand may cost up to €2 million while UPC conceded that a rebrand is a possibility “at some point in the future”.

Liberty Global is the owner of both UPC and Virgin Media.

The Sunday Independent reports that billionaire hedge fund manager Crispin Odey has placed a large financial bet that the share price of Bank of Ireland will fall, against the backdrop of the current euro crisis.

The paper estimates London-based Odey’s exposure at €60 million.

All such “short” positions, as they are known, must be notified to the Central Bank, which has recorded Odey’s bet in official figures.

The paper also reports that Saudi Arabia, which is the world’s top oil producer, is preparing to ramp up production to maximum levels, which should see a further dip in the price of oil.

Goldman Sachs and Citigroup are both predicting that it will head towards maximum production levels later this year.

This increase from Saudi Arabia will be in an effort to further restrain growth in other producing nations, such as the US and Brazil.