Just when you hoped that NAMA had fallen off the edge of the world, the figurate man from the EU say ‘Yes’. The European Commission has officially approved the government’s NAMA plan this morning.

NAMA will purchase assets for a nominal value (in today’s money) of €80B for around €54B. NAMA will manage these assets and attempt to maximise their value.

Competition Commissioner Joaquín Almunia commented on today’s approval:

Ireland’s financial sector has been one of the most affected by the global financial crisis in Europe and the burst of the Irish real estate bubble has only compounded the problems. This impaired asset measure, which is specifically targeted at real estate assets, is therefore key to cleaning up Irish banks’ balance sheets. This is an important step towards the overall restructuring of the sector and its return to a normal and responsible functioning of the market.

This in a massive week for domestic financial matters where Finance Bill 2010 is being reviewed line by line by the Finance Committee and economist Klaus Regling spoke at a meeting of the committee on his upcoming report on the financial crisis.