Growth to slow in 2008, warns Davy

ECONOMIC growth will decline sharply in 2008 to just 3% as the absence of SSIA money will impact sharply on the overall economic performance next year, Davy Stockbrokers have warned.

As the impact of the five-year national savings plan unwinds consumer spending will slow to just 2.5% in volume terms while housing completions will slip further from 87,000 this year to 82,0000 in 2008.

Davy reckons that in the first year of a new political cycle, following the General Election, the impact of the Budget may be less than it was in recent years.