Interest hikes threaten 2010 growth

IRELAND’s slump-ravaged economy will finally emerge from recession next year, but “fragile” growth risks being battered by interest-rate rises, a key think-tank last night warned.

Unemployment will continue to climb through 2010, but the steep surges of the past 18 months are now behind us, the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) said.

The relatively optimistic ESRI forecast coincided with warnings from opposition parties of a looming mortgage crisis as new figures showed the number of families in more than three months’ arrears doubled to 26,000 by last September.