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Irish think-tank says strong growth expected to continue

Xinhua, June 11, 2015 Adjust font size:

Ireland's strong economic growth is expected to continue into 2015 and 2016, with its gross domestic product (GDP) forecast to grow by 4.4 percent in 2015 and 3.7 percent in 2016, according to latest analysis on Wednesday.

A report from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), a leading economic policy think-tank, indicated Ireland's gross national product (GNP), which is the value of all finished goods and services produced in a country in one year by its nationals, will grown by 4.2 percent this year and 3.6 percent next year.

Declines in unemployment are also expected, with the headline rate envisaged to fall to 9.6 percent this year and 8.3 percent next year.

"We continue to believe that the Irish economy will grow quite strongly in both 2015 and 2016," said ESRI economist Kieran McQuinn.

"Notwithstanding the poorer than expected performance of both the U.S. and British economies in the first quarter of 2015, most domestic indicators, including taxation receipts, indicate that the recovery in economic performance is still very evident in the Irish economy," he said.

Meanwhile, David Duffy, another ESRI economist, predicted the domestic economy will make a major contribution to growth in 2015 and 2016.

"Having updated our estimates we now expect the numbers of homeowners in negative equity to fall to approximately 160,000 by the end of this year and could fall to below 100,000 by the end of 2016," Duffy said.

Last year, Ireland had the fastest growing economy in the European Union (EU), with its GDP and GNP increasing 4.8 percent and 5.2 percent respectively.

GNP and GDP for most countries are at similar levels. However, Ireland is exceptional for its dependence on foreign direct investment.

In Ireland's case, for many years past, the amount belonging to persons abroad has exceeded the amount received from abroad, due mainly to the profits of foreign-owned companies, and its GNP is therefore less than its GDP.

Some economists say GNP is the better measure of economic performance in Ireland. Enditem