Any increase to Irish bank levy would complicate disposals - minister

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland's finance minister said he did not consider increasing a levy on the country's banks in his budget on Tuesday as it would have made it more difficult to dispose of the state's remaining shareholdings in those lenders.

"You'll be aware of the current share price of our banks and the path that we have to go on to get back all the money that we invested. If a change was made in the bank levy, it is my judgement that that would make the journey for getting that money back even longer," Paschal Donohoe told a news conference.

(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Sandra Maler)