SSIA accounts to boost growth by 2%

Goodbody Stockbrokers have predicted that the maturity of Special Savings Incentive Accounts in 2006 and 2007 will boost economic growth by two percentage points.

The company said €14bn would be released into the economy when the accounts matured between May 2006 and April 2007.

It said a €6bn payout was expected in April 2007 alone, due to a last-minute rush to open SSIAs before the April 2002 deadline.

The average payout to each account holder will be just under €14,000 and Goodbody predicted that most of the money would be reinvested.

However, it predicted that at least €5.2bn would also be spent on holidays, cars, home improvements and other items. It also said this would only have a muted affect on Ireland’s inflation rate.