Ireland will be the first of three bailed-out euro-zone countries to wave farewell to the International Monetary Fund's rescue program, Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny told the press this week.

Kenny said the Irish government wants to test sell debt in 2012 and wants to be back in the market as soon as possible.

Ireland will 'in time be upgraded by the rating agencies,' Kenny told Bloomberg News.

'Of all the countries in difficulty, Ireland leads by example,' Kenny said in a Bloomberg Television interview in Dublin yesterday, adding that he believed the country is in best position to be the first to 'wave goodbye to the IMF.'

The Irish government is planning up to $5.4 billion in savings next year to cut its deficit further.

Kenny told Bloomberg yesterday that he now expects to beat the 2011 budget deficit target of 10.6 percent of gross domestic product set by the IMF and the European Union.

Meanwhile Ireland's 10-year borrowing cost, which reached 14.22 percent in July, has dropped to about 7.70 percent.

Kenny came to power in March and is seeking to reduce the government's deficit to 3 percent of GDP by the end of 2015.

READ MORE

Irish economy will be an issue in US 2012 presidential election ---Economic miracle or still a basket case?

IMF says Ireland’s economy is doing ‘surprisingly well’

Irish economy will be an issue in US 2012 presidential election ---Economic miracle or still a basket case?