Economy forecast to shrink 15.6%

THE IRISH economy will shrink by 15.6% and 17% of workers will lose their jobs in the three years of the current recession, Goodbody Stockbrokers forecast yesterday.

The latest quarterly economic update from Goodbody Stockbrokers predicts a GDP contraction of 8.7% this year, with a further drop of 4.6% in 2010, rising to 1% growth in 2011, following a 2.3% drop last year.

However, Goodbody economists Dermot O’Leary and Deirdre Ryan believe that the scale of the domestic problems that the economy is experiencing, means a recovery here is dependent on an improvement in economic conditions globally.