State-owned Anglo Irish Bank has reported a loss of €12.7bn for the 15 months to the end of December 2009 –  the largest loss in Irish corporate history - -  after charging €15bn to cover bad debts.

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The European Commission today gave approval for the Irish Government to inject funds into Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide, but it has also begun an in-depth investigation into the total aid received so far by Anglo. New restructuring plans have to be submitted by June.

The seasonally adjusted Irish Live Register total increased from 432,400 in February to 433,000 in March, an increase of 600, according to the Central Statistics office (CSO).

The Central Bank reported today that the annual growth in Irish private sector credit fell again in February. Residential mortgage loans and household credit outstanding dipped.

The Eurozone (EA16) seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 10.0% in February 2010, compared with 9.9% in January. It was 8.8% in February 2009. The EU27 unemployment rate was 9.6% in February 2010, compared with 9.5% in January. It was 8.3% in February 2009. For the Eurozone this is the highest rate since August 1998 and for the EU27 since the start of the series in January 2000. The Netherlands was lowest at 4%; Ireland was at 13.2% and Spain was at 19%.

Eurozone annual inflation is expected to rise to 1.5% in March 2010, according to a flash estimate issued today Eurostat, the statistics office of the European Union. It was 0.9% in February.

The financial crisis exposed Regions and its chief executive to one of the nation’s worst real-estate markets.

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Bank of Ireland today reported a loss of €1.8bn for the nine months to December 31, 2009 after bad debt charges of €4.1bn.