IMF: Government needs to increase capital spending

The Government has signalled its desire to spend more on key capital projects as the IMF in a new report said that “robust” economic growth may give the Coalition a bit more room to invest in the country’s infrastructure.

In its latest assessment of Ireland’s prospects following the exit from the international bailout in 2013, the IMF urged the Government to make sure tax breaks designed to encourage house building and stem high rents and homelessness benefit those who are most in need.

It warned that plans to phase out the Universal Social Charge (USC) “should not come at the expense of the breadth and stability of the tax base”.