Eurozone agrees seven-year maturity extension for Portugal, Ireland

Eurogroup finance ministers have agreed that Ireland and Portugal should be given an additional seven years to pay back their bailout loans, the group's chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem said on Friday.Dijsselbloem,Bus air conditioner spare parts who is also Dutch finance minister,bus A/C compressor told a press conference in Dublin that the bailout maturity extension had to be decided by all 27 European Union finance ministers when they met later in the day.Meanwhile,receiver drier European Union Economic Affairs CommissioAir max tnner Olli Rehn told journalists that the matter is another very important step towards a full return to market financing for both countries.European finance ministers and central bank governors are gathering here for an informal ECOFIN meeting to discuss current economic and financial matters. This meeting was preceded by a meeting of the Eurogroup this morning. 

The maturity extension for Ireland and Portugal is a key agenda for the two-day meeting.tyre changer Other issues on the agenda are the creation of a European banking union and strengthening financial stability in the eurozone.The meeting will also provide finance ministers with the first opportunity to discuss the fallout from the Cyprus bailout debacle which has seen bank depositors targeted for the first time.