Economy set to fall by 7% this year

THE economy is likely to fall by 7%, on a whole, this year, but modest growth could return next year.

That is according to the latest quarterly economic commentary from National Irish Bank (NIB), which said that the second three months of this year represented the fifth consecutive quarter of economic decline in this country.

On a positive note, however, the rate of economic decline here – based on a number of measures, including consumer confidence levels and the rate of unemployment growth – has eased in the past three months.