€6bn: Scale of budget’s cuts and taxation

“WE’RE halfway there” – that was the message the Government desperately sought to spin after confirming that next month’s budget will impose a savage €6 billion of cutbacks and tax hikes.

The €6bn adjustment – which will hit the sick, the poor and every other sector of society – will be just the beginning of a four-year process that will seek to cut Government spending by €15bn.

Investor confidence that Ireland could pull off such a massive correction and fend off an IMF bailout appeared to decrease further, with the cost of state borrowing reaching record highs.