McCreevy: 'Budget is prudent response to downturn'

Minister for Finance Charlie McCreevy this afternoon stated that his Budget was "a prudent and planned response to the impact of the continued downturn on our public finances".

"This is a Budget rooted in a vision of an Ireland which values stability as the necessary base for advancing the welfare of all its people", he said.

"It is a Budget which avoids the mistakes of the past and provides the foundation for renewed growth and development. This is a balanced and fair Budget, which responds properly to the international downturn by preventing the huge deficits of the past, but also by making sure that important areas like social welfare pensions and health are prioritised in difficult times," he said.

"This is a Budget which will protect our long-term future and secure the welfare of all sections of our society," McCreevy concluded.

He said that this year's Budget had been framed in very different circumstances from those of previous years and that we are now at the end of an era of maximum employment.

The Minister said the budget aimed to protect the weaker in society, position the country for recovery and ensure stable public finances.

McCreevy predicted GDP growth of 3.5% in 2003, with GNP growing at 2.25%.

Growth should pick up in 2004 and 2005, he predicted.

The Minister forecast an unemployment rate of 5.25% next year, an increase of 11,000 in employment growth, with the headline rate of consumer price inflation running at an average of 4.8%.