IRELAND may be plunged into a “disastrous” sovereign debt crisis within three years as the cost of rescuing its banks mounts, Nouriel Roubini, who predicted the global financial crisis, said.

FUEL prices in Ireland are now one of the highest in Europe, having increased 26% since this time last year.

FINANCE MINISTER Brian Lenihan and Central Bank governor Patrick Honohan will join business leaders and commentators at the International Financial Services Summit at Dublin’s Four Seasons Hotel on November 10.

IRELAND will need to provide evidence of its commitment to bring the budget deficit down to 3% by 2014, Economics Commissioner Olli Rehn said yesterday, to help safeguard the financial stability of the euro area.

THE European Central Bank (ECB) has been urged to slash interest rates to zero by a leading economist.

The risks of an uneven global economic recovery dominated the agenda today as the World Economic Forum opened in the Swiss Alps.

THE European Central Bank (ECB), which meets today has been too slow to cut interest rates according to Nouriel Roubini, the New York University professor who predicted the global financial crisis.

Leading economists had mixed views today about whether a recession could spread around the world.