The economy is moving into a new ‘post-recovery’ phase, according to Ibec's latest Quarterly Economic Outlook Q1 2018.
The report forecasts growth of 5.6% this year and a buoyant consumer economy growing by 2.6% in volume terms.
All indicators now point to growth clearly benefitting households through improving wages and incomes.
“The story in today’s report is a positive one, the economy is growing, trade remains robust despite Brexit, and households are clearly benefitting through incomes which are increasing at the fastest rate in Europe,” said Gerard Brady Ibec's Head of Tax and Fiscal Policy.
Competitiveness
While this news is very positive, the group that represents Irish business, has also warned that threats to our competitiveness are resurfacing.
"It is important we focus on the competitiveness factors we can control at home. Despite improvements over recent years, Ireland’s economy remains characterised by the National Competitiveness Council as a ‘relatively high-cost location.'" Brady stated.
"As a small open economy, we remain extremely vulnerable to further external price shocks through exchange rates, interest rate hikes or rising energy prices. These have provided a major boost to our cost competitiveness in recent years but continuing tailwinds from these sources are far from guaranteed."
© 2018 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Donna Ahern. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
