Friday, December 18, 2009
DUBLIN: Ireland emerged from a deep recession in the third quarter as its economy grew 0.3 per cent compared with the previous three months, official data showed on Thursday.
The joy was dampened however by data showing gross domestic product (GDP) had still shrunk 7.4 per cent in the three months to September compared with the same period of 2008.
“Initial estimates ... on a seasonally adjusted basis, for the third quarter of 2009 show ... a small increase of 0.3 per cent in GDP compared with the previous quarter,” the Central Statistics Office (CSO) said in a statement. Ireland’s former roaring Celtic Tiger economy tumbled into a fierce recession during the first half of 2008, becoming the first eurozone nation to do so as the global crisis undid years of progress and development.
The fragile 0.3-per cent quarterly growth is the first tentative sign that the troubled Irish economy is on the path to recovery after a property market meltdown, soaring unemployment and a series of enormously expensive banking bailouts. Earlier, this month, Irish Finance Minister Brian Lenihan unveiled an austerity budget and forecast GDP would shrink by 1.25 per cent in 2010 after contracting 7.5 per cent this year.
No comments:
Post a Comment