Finance crisis must be tackled now

LATEST Exchequer figures for October show a massive reversal of around €1 billion in just a month.

From a surplus of €594 million in September the figures plummeted to a deficit of €439m last month. While economists may attribute some of this to extraordinary factors, the figures are still alarming because they are part of a continuing trend.

In October of last year the Exchequer was in surplus by €2.3bn. Each set of figures this year have reinforce indications of a downward trend. But every new set of figures published has presented a picture that is even worse than expected.