McCreevy Leaves Stewardship Of Irish Economy On An Optimistic Note

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

23 August 2004

Ireland's outgoing minister of finance Charlie McCreevy gave an upbeat assessment of the Irish fiscal and economic outlook last week, cutting his estimate for the 2004 government deficit whilst raising growth forecasts.

On the back of more favourable tax returns, the budget deficit estimate for 2004 has been cut from 1.1% to 0.4% with the borrowing requirement also cut, now being estimated at €1.8 billion compared to a Budget Day forecast of €2.8 billion.

“This improvement in the public finances is mainly due to higher tax returns for the first seven months of 2004 than were projected at Budget time,” noted McCreevy in a statement.

Meanwhile, gross domestic product growth forecasts for 2004 have been revised upwards from 3.3% to 4.7%.

McCreevy, who is due to take over as the EU’s Commissioner for the Internal Market later in the year, also welcomed the continued moderation in the rate of inflation which has fallen steadily from 4.6% in 2002 to an expected 2.2% this year.

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