Irish Central Bank Chief Says Celtic Tiger Era Over

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

09 November 2001

The governor of the Irish Central Bank, Maurice Connell, has sounded the death knell for the 'Celtic Tiger' era, saying that the events of September 11th have destroyed the country's chances of surviving the global economic slowdown.

Speaking at the Oireachtas Committee on Finance and Public Service, Mr Connell dismissed predictions of a 'v-shaped' recovery, saying that a sharp decline followed by rapid growth was unlikely given the current economically uncertain conditions. He then called for a prudent budget with spending aimed predominantly at infrastructure.

If the downturn intensifies, the Central Bank governor told the Committee, economic growth next year will be unlikely to meet the 3.5% current predictions. 'The risks to this projection are on the downside,' he warned.

Meanwhile, echoing the comments made last week by Mary Harney, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern signalled that with the exception of tax cuts for lower income workers, significant tax reductions are not on the menu in the forthcoming budget, and spoke darkly of 'hard realities' to come for the Irish people.

Recommended