Recovery is on track but no guarantees

There will be a very clear yardstick next year to measure the performance of the economy — whether the country successfully exits the EU/IMF bailout programme and makesa full return to the markets.

The programme is scheduled to end in Nov 2013. The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) successfully tapped the markets during the summer for the first time in two years.

Through bond swaps and new issuances, the €11.9bn funding cliff that the Government faced in Jan 2014 has now been whittled down to a much more manageable €2.4bn.