Economy

Ulster Bank’s report predicts growth for Irish economy

By Business & Finance
26 August 2015
ulster bank exterior

The latest figures on the Irish economy have prompted Ulster Bank to upgrade its assessment of the economy’s outlook for this year and next.

GDP growth of 5.2% is being witnessed this year, up from 3.9% at the time of the Bank’s last forecast in April, while growth of 4.5% is predicted or 2016.

This will result in a faster pace of jobs growth, which will average 2.8% this year and 2.7% next.

The Ulster Bank Irish Economic Outlook by chief economist Simon Barry predicts that the economy will generate an additional 100,000 net new jobs over this year and next, resulting in a further decline in the unemployment rate to 8.4%.

A strengthening recovery is also clearly evident in the public finances and Ireland will deliver a fifth consecutive year of fiscal outperformance in 2015.

Chinese macro-financial weakness is now the key near-term risk for the global economy, and is exerting a strongly negative influence over a range of areas of the financial markets.

Photo: Colin White