European Commission approves Govt plan to reduce budget deficit
The European Commission has approved the Government's plan to get the budget deficit back under EU limits.
In a statement released this afternoon, the EC says Ireland can take the next five years to bring the deficit to under 3% of GDP.
The Commission’s January forecast indicates the deficit could widen to 11% of GDP in 2009 and 13% in 2010. Because of this, it has recommended a multi-annual deadline for the correction of the deficit.
The European Commission has given Ireland six months to specify what measures it intends to take to get the country's finances back on track.
