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| Europe |
| Ireland's budget deficit highest in EU |
| 2010-04-23 |
| Ireland had the biggest fiscal deficit in the European Union last year -- larger than both Greece and the UK - according to revised figures published on Thursday by Eurostat, the European Commission's official statistics office. The deficit was revised up from 11.8 per cent to 14.3 per cent of Gross Domestic Product after Eurostat ruled that the Irish government's €4bn of aid to Anglo Irish Bank must be treated as part of current spending. Brian Lenihan, the finance minister, described the Eurostat move as "a technical reclassification", which would have a "once-off impact" but would not affect Ireland's plan to reduce the deficit to below 3 per cent by 2014. The minister's view was backed by Standard & Poor's the rating agency which said "the revised data treatment does not affect our view of the underlying position of the Irish public finances." But Richard Bruton, finance spokesman for the conservative opposition Fine Gael party, said it "cast yet further doubt and uncertainty over the government's whole banking strategy." The government last month provided another €8.3bn to cover losses at Anglo Irish, which was nationalised in 2009 following a spate of governance scandals. Mr Lenihan said it may need a further €10bn for future losses on property loans that are not repaid. Irish bond spreads compared with benchmark German bonds widened to 174 basis points from 150 basis points on Wednesday, but traders said this was the result of contagion from the Greek crisis, rather than the EU budget revisions. |
| Posted by:lotp |
| #3 Here's a radical thought. Spend less. |
| Posted by: bigjim-CA 2010-04-23 14:01 |
| #2 from Celtic Tiger to Celtic Kittie... |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2010-04-23 11:30 |
| #1 GREECE's BUDGET DEFICITS have been discovered to be WORSE THAN PREVIOUSLY BELIEVED??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2010-04-23 00:50 |