THE FISCAL adjustment in the December budget would be “well above the existing figure of €3 billion”, Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan has said.
The Minister was speaking in Washington where he was attending the annual meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
"What the IMF are actually telling us is that we have taken the correct steps as a country and as a government. We're not telling them that: they're advising us of that, that's exactly what the IMF are advising us in relation to the banking issue," the Minister said on RTÉ Radio's This Weekprogramme.
Pointing out that “world conditions for the next three years are not as good as has been predicted”, and the Government had to respond to the “economic realities we face,” he added: “I don’t believe that I should rush into a figure and announce it without very, very careful analysis and a large amount of data which must be taken into account before you fix on an exact and precise figure.”
But he conceded that “clearly the figure this year will be well above the existing figure of €3 billion. I’m working on this with my colleagues in government, with my officials”.
Mr Lenihan will be in New York today to meet investors in Irish Government debt.
Meanwhile, a Department of Finance source denied suggestions that Minister for Social Protection Eamon Ó Cuív had inadvertently revealed this year’s budget savings target as €4.3 billion when speaking to reporters last week. “There is no €4.3 billion figure in the mix,” the source said. The Minister had simply “misspoken” and in reality, there was “no figure yet”.
Reports of possible increases in tax rates were described as “speculation”. The four-year plan to be announced next month was likely to give adjustment figures for each of the next four years.
The Government was committed to getting the deficit below 3 per cent of Gross Domestic Product in four years’ time, but “more data” was needed to estimate the level of GDP by 2014.
The second week of November is seen as the most likely date for publication of the framework.
A spokesman said: “At present, the department is looking at all the economic data and building up projections for the coming years. These forecasts will inform the measures that must be considered by Government.”