Irish economy will return to 5% growth by 2005-2006, says commission

THE European Commission issued a broadly positive report yesterday on Ireland's economic growth and stability over the next two years.

However, they were not as upbeat about the British or Dutch economies which are predicted to run budget deficits of more than 3% of GDP in the coming year. They said France was facing a fourth year of breaching the eurozone rules.

Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Pedro Solbes, giving his main conclusions on the Irish Broad Economic Policy Guidelines programme, said the macro-economic scenario seemed to be realistic.