State to borrow €26bn to plug tax gap

THE Government will have to borrow €26 billion this year to plug the gap between income and spending as its financial problems continue to worsen and the tax take falls back to 2003 levels.

The gloomy outlook was confirmed by Finance Minister Brian Lenihan on the same day the EU predicted Ireland would be among the last member states to emerge from recession.

Exchequer figures published yesterday showed the tax take is falling back to 2003 levels, with just €26.8bn raised in the first 10 months of this year.