Irish business group Ibec warns of "full-blown" Brexit currency crisis

Ireland's main business organization Ibec has warned of a "full-blown" Brexit currency crisis, which has left many key export businesses reeling, with jobs already under threat.

The warning came as a new survey of over 450 businesses highlighted the intense currency strain on exporters following the British vote to leave the European Union.

The survey found the main concern is the sharp fall in the value of sterling, and almost half (45 percent) of all businesses saw this as the main threat.

It also found cheaper British imports was cited as the biggest risk by one third of respondents (33 percent).

According to Ibec's analysis, a 1 percent weakness in sterling results in a 0.7 percent drop in Irish exports to Britain.

If sterling was to weaken further towards the 0.9 pound mark, this would translate to losses of over 700 million euros in food exports and about 7,500 Irish jobs in that sector alone, Ibec said.

"The Brexit strain is manifest and intense. Without urgent action to address competitive pressures, hundreds of millions of euro worth of exports and thousands of Irish jobs will be lost," said Ibec Director of Policy Fergal O'Brien.

"This is now a full blown currency crisis. For exporters, the speed of sterling's decline is on a par with the 1992 currency crisis. Irish exporters to the UK are already 15 percent less competitive and things could get much worse," he said.

O'Brien demanded a national response to the Brexit currency shock, saying that an urgent and meaningful government response is needed to address the immediate currency crisis and longer-term competitiveness challenge that Brexit poses.

"The UK will be more aggressive in its tax and investment policy once outside the EU. Ireland needs to match and exceed its offering," he said. Endit