The cost of the recession and bank bailout is pushing our economy to breaking point. Latest forecasts from the Department of Finance estimate our debt to GDP (gross domestic product) ratio at 111% by 2013. Stockbroker forecasts believe this is an underestimate and forecasts range from 114% to 120% of GDP by 2013-14.
Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse, along come those pesky would-be democrats in the Arab world and send the price of oil spiralling. Still, it’s an ill wind as usual and the crises throughout the Middle East and North Africa will likely keep an awful lot of pundits in business for an awfully long time.
If any Machiavellian spin doctor had bad tidings to announce, this would have been the week to get them out there. The media preoccupation with the possible ramifications of the government’s four-year austerity measures and the likely impending bailout left little room for other business stories in the Sunday broadsheets.
“Personal private pension contributions may become a thing of the past if the Recovery Plan’s proposals are implemented to restrict tax relief for personal pension contributions for employees and the self-employed,” according to John Heffernan, head of Ernst & Young’s regional tax services.
Preparations for a new four-year state solidarity bond will accelerate after the upcoming budget and is expected to be launched in mid-January, The Sunday Business Post reports.
