Irish growth to strengthen but China still a concern

The Irish economy is set for growth of over 5% this year, with upward momentum to continue into 2016, but further recovery could still be indirectly affected by China’s weakening economy.

“Ireland’s direct export exposure to China is low – 2% of total exports – but Ireland would be vulnerable to any severe sustained deterioration in global financial conditions that jeopardised the outlook for its key trading partners of the eurozone, US and UK,” said Simon Barry, chief economist for Ulster Bank in the Republic.

“Chinese macro-financial weakness is now the key near-term risk for the global economy, and is exerting a strongly negative influence over a range of areas in the financial markets,” he added.