No surprise that we need to cut another €4bn

THE suggestion from the Minister for Finance earlier this week that he may be looking for as much as €4 billion in Budget 2012, which will be presented in early December, appears to have created an element of surprise in some quarters. I am surprised that his comments have elicited any surprise in any quarters.

The reality was that €3.6bn in adjustment had been pencilled in by the last government, and given that the domestic economic environment is turning out to be weaker than anticipated, it is only to be expected that the required adjustment would be larger.

The end-June Exchequer returns published this week show the magnitude of the fiscal challenge facing the country. In the first half of the year we borrowed a further €10.8bn.