Troika gives ninth positive review to Ireland's bailout performance
The troika of the European Commission, ECB and IMF has said Ireland continued its strong track record of meeting bailout conditions.
The statement came as ECB chief Mario Draghi prepared to discuss the extent of a deal struck on the promissory-note saga at a press conference in Frankfurt.
The troika said: “Ireland’s economic recovery is continuing and is expected to gradually gain momentum, with growth forecast to firm to over 1% in 2013 and over 2% in 2014.
“The growth of Irish exports is a key driver of the ongoing recovery, but is highly dependent on the pace of recovery in trading partners.”
The next review mission is scheduled for April 2013.
Following this ninth review of Ireland's progress under the bailout rules, the Government said its focus was on getting back into the international money markets.
In a joint statement, Finance Minister Michael Noonan and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin said the aim was to end the EU-IMF bailout programme by the end of the year.
“Throughout the course of the review we have demonstrated significant progress on delivering on our commitments but we do not underestimate the significant challenges that remain,” the ministers said.
“Our focus is now firmly on our exit strategy from the programme, our re-entry into the financial markets and the debt sustainability of the programme.”
