Britain could lend 'around' seven billion pounds to Ireland

LONDON: British finance minister George Osborne said Monday that London was considering a loan to Ireland of about seven billion pounds (11.2 billion dollars) as part of an international rescue.

"What we have committed to do is to obviously be partners as shareholders in the IMF in an international rescue of the Irish economy," Osborne told BBC radio, one day after debt-stricken Ireland applied for an EU/IMF bailout.

"But we've also made a commitment to consider a bilateral loan that reflects the fact we're not part of the euro, and don't want to be part of the euro, but Ireland is our very closest economic neighbour."

Asked if the total amount was about seven billion pounds, Osborne said: "It's around that -- it's in the billions, not the tens of billions."