ARTICLE · 29 MAY 2013

Focus Spring 2013 - Getting Ahead Of The Game

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A discussion on the latest financial and tax related issues in Ireland.

IrelandFinance and Banking

Joanne Butler

Jonathan Sheahan

Liz Cahill

EDITORIAL

By Paul Wyse

Welcome to our spring edition of Focus. We have hopefully finally seen the back of a very cold and wet winter and welcome the long and bright evenings back. Spring is normally the season for growth.

Ireland Inc has had some good news since our last issue. Europe has extended our debt repayment terms and it has benefited from some rate reductions which will help the country's bottom line and our repayment capacity for when we return to the market. The general government deficit in 2012 was €12.46bn or 7.6% of GDP, well below the 8.6% EU/International Monetary Fund (IMF) target although there were a number of one-off receipts which helped. This is welcome news as Ireland is getting ready to return to the international debt markets.

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