BoI says economy may have achieved Q1 growth

THE Irish economy may have grown in the first quarter of this year according to Bank of Ireland, contrary to most predictions which said it would only start to recover in the second half of the year.

In its recent report the Central Bank said the economy would decline by a further 0.5% in 2010 having fallen more than 7% last year. Bank of Ireland is also sticking to its previous forecast that the economy will grow by a full 1% and move out of recession a year ahead of what most other forecasters are saying.

Author of the commentary Dan McLaughlin said the “consensus view” was that return growth would not happen until the second half and would be insufficient to pull the economy out of recession for the year overall.