Irish economy set to improve
A report by the Central Bank of Ireland has today cast a brighter light on the Irish economy with expectations that economic growth could hit 0.8% for the whole 2010, with multinational companies boosting their exports from Ireland over the last few months. So has the Irish economy turned the corner?
While the report by the Central Bank of Ireland has grabbed the headlines, it is interesting to see that if exports from multinationals based in Ireland are stripped out of the figures then the economy, or the more common measurement which is GDP, will fall by 1% overall before rebounding by 2.2% in 2011. While on the surface this is all good news for the medium to longer term, the short-term situation in Ireland is still very difficult with many companies struggling to survive and the "bad bank" set up by the authorities set to take over more and more businesses in the short-term.
The Irish economy has been causing economists significant concern for some time now and many believe that eventually the government will need a financial bailout from the IMF. However, if and when this might happen remains to be seen although all eyes will still be on the Irish economy, as it which could hold the key to the stability of the European Union in the short to medium term.
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