Ireland outlines austerity plan

Ireland outlines austerity plan

2010-11-24 23:07:21 GMT+7 (ICT)

DUBLIN, IRELAND (BNO NEWS) -- Ireland on Wednesday revealed its four-year austerity plan, which is aimed at reducing the country's budget deficit to 9.1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2011.

At the end of the four-year period, Ireland is pushing to decrease its budget deficit to below 3 percent with a detailed plan that includes €10 billion ($13.3 billion) in spending cuts, plus €5 billion ($6.7 billion) in tax and revenue increases. This year, Ireland's budget deficit is forecast to stand at 32 percent.

The deficit is targeted to be reduced to 9.1 percent of GDP in 2011, 7.0 percent in 2012, 5.5 percent in 2013 and to 2.8 percent by 2014.

According to the plan, Ireland will remain committed to the 12.5 percent corporation tax rate, which "will not be increased under any circumstances."

In addition, the government is expecting that its real GDP will grow by an average of 2.75 percent from 2011 to 2014.

Ireland's austerity plan is a prerequisite for the country to get an European Union-International Monetary Fund loan, which has been estimated to total €85 billion ($115 billion).

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