The Irish economy will continue its revival in 2014, with GDP increasing from -0.3pc in 2013 to 2.0pc in 2014. This is according to EY’s Economic Eye Summer 2014 report, which also forecasts that GNP will hot 3.3 per cent this year.
A number of positive factors have contributed to EY’s forecast, including the country’s exit from the Troika bailout, its re-entering the international financial markets and its improved international credit rating.
‘2014 looks set to be a significant milestone in Ireland’s nascent economic revival – before now, the recovery has been two-track, with economic growth chiefly being driven by the export and FDI sectors,’ said Mike McKerr, managing partner of EY Ireland.
‘However, we are starting to see multiplier effects feeding through to the domestic economy at last, which is highly encouraging.’
Ongoing issues
However, economic advisory to EY Economic Eye Prof Neil Gibson warned that Ireland’s continued recovery is by no means guaranteed due to ongoing issues such as poor consumer confidence, difficulties in the banking sector and the uneven pace of recovery in regions outside Dublin. ')}
