Economists warn McCreevy against budget tax changes to find faults

FINANCE Minister Charlie McCreevy has been warned against any radical tax changes in this year's budget to enable him to work out how the calculation of revenue returns went so wrong over the past years.

A flurry of changes to the tax system over the last couple of years has left it difficult to find out why revenue growth slowed dramatically over the past year, according to the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).

The institute predicts a budget deficit of €550m this year, rising to €783m next year a sharp decline of €2bn in just two years.