Ireland's trade surplus hits record high in March

Ireland saw a record trade surplus of 5.05 billion euros in March, which was 557 million euros higher than the surplus posted in February, latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed Tuesday.

March was the first time the surplus has broken the 5-billion-euro mark, the CSO figures showed.

The figures also showed Irish exports were down 4 percent in the month at 10.15 billion euros while imports recorded a big fall of 16.2 percent to 5.1 billion euros.

Business and consumer confidence have been dented to some degree, though not in major way, in recent months by the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, according to Alan McQuaid, chief economist with the Dublin-headquartered Merrion Stockbrokers.

"Indeed, the trade data for last year were positive. Still, the uncertainty over the implications of Britain's decision to leave the EU suggests risks on the external trade front remain elevated going forward, especially for food exporters," he said.

The movement in the euro/sterling exchange rate will be critical in this regard, he added.

Britain is the second largest single country for Ireland's goods and the largest for its services. Ireland imports 30 percent of its goods from Britain.

"The trade outlook going forward remains clouded in uncertainty, but we are still anticipating another solid performance this year," McQuaid said. Endit