Booming growth of 6% in Irish GDP is forecast for 2005

Business World:

Booming growth of 6pc in GDP is forecast for this year in the latest economic forecast from the Economic and Social Research Institute.

And the institute expects the rapid growth to continue next year, with GDP advancing by 5.1pc.

The institute's forecasting team, led by Danny McCoy, says that a resumption of strong growth is clearly evident for this year so far, particularly in the pickup of employment levels to rates last achieved in the year 2000.

The economy is being buoyed by strong domestic demand, underpinned by strong housing investment, rather than by any external factors.

"Both business and consumer confidence appear to be buoyed by the continuing loose monetary conditions of the euro area," they say.

They also say the rise in domestic demand is feeding through to the public finances which, they predict, will be sound for the next few years.

The team sees GNP growth rising by 5.5pc this year and 5.0pc next year.

Such growth, they say, are "well in line with our estimate of the Irish economy's potential over the medium term".

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