FT: Economic watchdog warns Ireland over budget

22 September 2014

The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council has warned the Irish government that it should take a tough fiscal stance over the coming year and not get caught up in the euphoria of the strong economic growth figures.

The Irish government should maintain a tight fiscal stance in next year’s budget and not allow euphoria over a surge in economic growth in recent months to distract it from medium-term targets it is obliged to meet, the country’s fiscal watchdog has warned.

In a stance that represents a dash of cold water on last week’s data showing that Ireland returned to a Celtic Tiger-era growth rate of nearly 8 per cent in the second quarter of this year, the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council said that, with government spending still outpacing revenue by €7bn and the country’s debt at 120 per cent of gross domestic product, the overall fiscal position was too weak to change course now.

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