Caution vital despite optimism

The positive revision of growth figures from the Central Bank yesterday – up to 4.5% from 2.5% — is another welcome indication that our economy is turning the corner. These figures, unimaginable even a short while ago, must be a cause for some guarded optimism.

However, the bank’s suggestion that the Government should do “more than the minimum necessary” in the Budget to meet its fiscal targets and use unexpected gains to pay down debt will not please those who have suggested that it’s already “payback time”.

The bank argues that as this is the first budget since the troika left that we should use the opportunity to “further solidify Ireland’s reputation for creditworthiness.”