Irish PM vows to pass budget, then call election

European partners and the International Monetary Fund agreed in principle on Sunday to rescue Ireland with an expected 80 to 90 billion euros in loans to tackle a banking and budget crisis that has aroused public fury. Ireland's Greens, junior partners wholesale desinger gucci handbags in Cowen's coalition, called on Monday for an early election in January as soon as the international bailout was in place. Then two independent lawmakers on whom the government relies for support said they were unlikely to support the 2011 austerity budget, due to be unveiled on December 7. With the main opposition parties calling for an immediate election, this meant the budget was unlikely to pass, and the EU/IMF aid package that will be contingent on it was likely to be delayed. But Cowen appeared to be daring the opposition parties, Fine Gael and Labour, to block the budget -- and hold up the aid as well as the promised election -- when they could let it pass by abstaining. "I don't think they should call an gucci travel bags election before the budget because the whole basis of the IMF coming in would be undermined," said 39-year-old Dublin teacher Gerald Murphy. Geoffrey Yu, foreign exchange strategist at UBS in London, said Cowen had thrown down the gauntlet to the opposition. "But if you are a euro zone bond investor are you going to take that chance?" he said. "They won't be very impressed, but will they see this as a reason to sell off aggressively? We are not so sure either." A top euro zone official said the first loans to Ireland could flow in January, but financial markets turned negative as investors assessed the new political uncertainty and the risk of pressure spreading to other vulnerable EU countries. News of a bailout for Greece last May slashed the yield on Greek 10-year government bonds by 4.5 percentage points, halving the premium that investors required to hold Greek debt rather than low-risk German fake gucci handbags debt. But Irish government debt prices have barely reacted to news of the latest bailout. In late European trading, the latest Irish 10-year bond was yielding 8.34 percent, over 5.5 points more than the German equivalent. SHARES FALL European shares fell and the euro, which hit a one-week high near $1.38 overnight on news of the package, dipped to around $1.3620 at 5 p.m. EDT on fears that it would not prevent contagion reaching Portugal and possibly Spain. Irish stocks closed down 1.49 percent, while bank shares fell by about 20 percent on fears that equity holders will take the first losses.