IRELAND IS running a trade surplus which is a “key positive” for the Irish economy, Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan told delegates at Ibec’s CEO Conference 2010 yesterday.
Mr Lenihan, who made an unplanned appearance at the event, said Ireland’s full balance of payments would move into surplus next year contrary to some reports in the international media.
“The message has often been lost in dealing with [these] difficult issues and the huge and understandable public concern about them that there’s a huge range of positives in the Irish economy.”
Mr Lenihan said the gap in the public finances between expenditure and tax receipts would be filled by economic growth, not just tax changes and expenditure reductions. The budgetary plan would have a separate chapter on economic growth, identifying where it would take place on a sector by sector basis.
Earlier Aer Lingus chief executive Christoph Mueller said Ireland had successfully addressed its competitiveness issues, in particular narrowing the gap between Ireland and the EU. He said the airline, which posts results this week, would post a profit for 2010.
Mr Mueller said Ireland must adopt a more “agile” response to change if it was to succeed post-crisis. Companies should “fortress” their balance sheets to provide a buffer for future shocks.
His comments on competitiveness came as IBEC published a report yesterday which showed that Ireland is rapidly regaining the competitiveness it had lost during the boom years, with Irish firms now achieving annual unit cost reductions of 7 per cent.
