ESRI to warn Govt against pre-election spending spree

The Economic and Social Research Institute is expected to warn the Government against any pre-election spending spree in its latest economic commentary today.

The think-tank is expected to predict a slowdown in economic growth in the coming years.

It will warn the Government that any move to increase public spending in an effort to boost its pre-election population could potentially damage the economy.

The Labour Party has expressed concern that the warning will be ignored given Fianna Fáil's propensity to create a feel-good factor ahead of elections.

"They have done it before and they will do it again," the party's enterprise spokesman, Ruairi Quinn, said last night. "Bertie Ahern desperately wants to buy the votes of the electorate."