Jeroen

Big Troubles for the Euro

Talin,

-the Dutch government bought a decent bank (ABN AMRO/Fortis Netherrlands) at a decent price, which can be privatized in a couple of years. The dividends will pay for the interest payments, and it's unlikely tax payers will have to take a loss.
-the Belgian government will own 10% of BNP Paribas (large European bank, through a stock swap, in which BNP took over Fortis Belgium.

With all the government intervention we will never know what the cost to the taxpayer would have been without intervention. It's probably choosing for the lesser of two evils, no perfect solutions.