Central Bank report - Plan needed to sustain confidence

AFTER a week in which the National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis (NIRSA) reminded us of how our political system so spectacularly failed us all, of how difficult it is to be optimistic about a political class that was so very easily and catastrophically diverted from its own policies, any sliver of news that is not altogether dismal is to be embraced with enthusiasm.

That a Central Bank report warning that the eurozone recovery may ‘moderate somewhat’ in the second half of the year as governments cut spending to lower deficits might be considered good news is a fair indicator of how very bleak things have been. So, even the qualified optimism in the Central Bank’s quarterly report published yesterday, is welcome, if not quite uplifting.

The bank has raised – moderately – its forecasts for the economy, though it warns that the scourge of unemployment will not be confronted in any meaningful way until next year. It is of little consolation to a person to be told that they are living in an improving, or at least stable, economy if they can’t get a job.