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Ireland Said to Face Downturn in 2nd Year of Austerity
Fri, 20 Jan 2012Ireland Said to Face Downturn in 2nd Year of Austerity
By LIZ ALDERMAN
Published: January 19, 2012
PARIS — Ireland, one of the first countries to receive an international bailout during Europe’s sovereign debt crisis, will suffer a sharp slowdown in growth this year as an austerity program that helped reduce the country’s deficit enters its second year, according to a progress report Thursday from international lenders.
Ireland cut its deficit to about 10 per cent of gross domestic product in 2011 from 32 per cent in 2010, the year that a government plan to bail out six of the country’s largest banks inflated the deficit, according to the report by the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
