SSIAs to drive economic growth by 5%

THE Irish economy will grow by an extra 5% a year in 2006 and 2007 as consumer spending accelerates by up to 7%, funded by the release of €16 billion from Special Savings Incentive Accounts (SSIA).

A study by Davy Stockbrokers into the impact of SSIAs on the Irish economy and financial institutions estimates the funds saved will come to almost €16bn, factoring in likely investment returns, and not €15bn as is commonly thought.

The report’s authors, analyst Scott Rankin and economist Rossa White, said: “What it not widely known is that using the last published statistics (end-2004), by value, 43% will mature in 2006 with 57% maturing in 2007 by virtue of the fact that ‘early adopters’ put in more money to begin with.