Government 'building election war chest'

THE Government has been accused of building a "war chest" to fight the next election following publication of very strong Exchequer returns in the first quarter.

A surplus of €880 million was shown for the first three months of the year, as tax returns ran about 2.5% ahead of projections.

Economists say borrowing for the year will be close to €1 billion less than projected in the last budget. It should amount to no more than €1.8bn against the figure of $2.9bn forecast by Finance Minister Brain Cowen.