Irish Budget Deficit Swells To 2.88 Bln Euros

[Ash4781]

http://investing.reuters.co.uk/news/articl...OMY-DEFICIT.XML

DUBLIN, Sept 4 (Reuters) -Ireland's exchequer fell deeper into the red in August as a rapidly slowing property market sparked a fall in tax revenue from stamp duties paid by homebuyers and the government ramped up spending.

Ireland's budget deficit widened to 2.88 billion euros ($3.91 billion) at the end of last month, more than twice the 1.33 billion euro shortfall at the end of July. Ireland reported a budget surplus of 203 million euros at the end of August 2006.

Tax revenue to date stood at 27.3 billion euros which was 5.8 percent higher than a year earlier but grew more slowly than in July when the annual rate of increase was 6.9 percent.

"The main drag ... came from stamp duty receipts, which were 2 percent below last year's levels in the first eight months of the year," said Goodbody Chief Economist Dermot O'Leary. "Receipts from this source are some 270 million euros behind Department of Finance projections at the beginning of the year."

Revenues from customs and excise and capital gains were also below what the finance ministry had forecast in its budget.

Overall total exchequer receipts, including revenue from sources other than tax, rose to 28.6 billion euros from 27.6 billion a year earlier but the increase was dwarfed by a 4 billion euro rise in expenditure.

"Expenditure is running slightly ahead of target. It increased by 19.8 percent in the first eight months compared with a forecast of 17.4 percent," noted Davy economist Rossa White who expects the government can still end 2007 with a general government surplus of 0.5 percent of GDP.

"The government is doing the right thing by ramping capital expenditure, which helps partly compensate for lower housing activity," said White, pointing out infrastructure spending rose 63 percent year-on-year versus a targeted 42 percent rise.

Goodbody's O'Leary said things may get a little more tricky, however, as Finance Minister Brian Cowen prepares to present his 2008 budget in December.

"A tight rein will have to be kept on spending in 2008 if the prudent track record of fiscal surpluses is to continue," he wrote in a research note.

"However, with consumption and investment also expected to ease in 2008, the government will be loath to exert any further downward influence on domestic demand."

Will the ECB by happy ?

Edited September 4, 2007 by Ash4781

[Krackersdave]

http://investing.reuters.co.uk/news/articl...OMY-DEFICIT.XML

Will the ECB by happy ?

Hmmm 38Bln Euros a year is not a lota lolly to run a country on - Hell the Scots subsidise England to the tune of 43Bln GBP each year in oil and gas tax revenue alone.

[Guest DissipatedYouthIsValuable]

Hmmm 38Bln Euros a year is not a lota lolly to run a country on - Hell the Scots subsidise England to the tune of 43Bln GBP each year in oil and gas tax revenue alone.

That's very nice of them, where do I send my letter of thanks?

[Nicholas Cage]

Hmmm 38Bln Euros a year is not a lota lolly to run a country on - Hell the Scots subsidise England to the tune of 43Bln GBP each year in oil and gas tax revenue alone.

Some of that goes on an army to stop the Scots revolting and taking it back.

[itsme]

RTE news tonight was full of doom and gloom about demise of property market. Graphs showed clearly that the Celtic Tiger was highly dependent on selling houses to each other and now that has stopped. Troubles ahead for a goverment which did not act in time to halt the HPI

How could the Irish control HPI now when they could not even control the growth of potatoes which once led to a mass migration???

[itsme]

RTE news tonight was full of doom and gloom about demise of property market. Graphs showed clearly that the Celtic Tiger was highly dependent on selling houses to each other and now that has stopped. Troubles ahead for a goverment which did not act in time to halt the HPI

How could the Irish control HPI now when they could not even control the growth of potatoes which once led to a mass migration???

[islandcyclist]

How could the Irish control HPI now when they could not even control the growth of potatoes which once led to a mass migration???

But as they did emigrate, they now form the backbone of the most powerful nation on earth - not such thick paddys as your feeble attempt at humour would seem to suggest

[LondonView]

What did Charlie Haughey say? Something about people tightening their belts, Bertie to exit 2008 (pursued by a bear). Lets hope there is a plan B?

Some home truths for the Irish economy then.

It's ok though there is the greatest education system in the world to fall back on so they won't put all their equity in one asset then gamble like a bunch of charlied up drunks at cheltenham while taking advice from horse owners about where the easy money is..........

There has been bear talk in ireland from a few derided comentators for some time, surprised that rte are just telling it as it is at last.I think they are taking their q from Cowans change of tact - "lets get it over and done with quickly, it'sonly for our own good".

[BandWagon]

RTE news tonight was full of doom and gloom about demise of property market. Graphs showed clearly that the Celtic Tiger was highly dependent on selling houses to each other and now that has stopped. Troubles ahead for a goverment which did not act in time to halt the HPI

Any chance of a link?

I bet the market is still full of estate agents saying that it's just a blip, give it a year and the market will take off again.

It won't be long before they start having bank failures, then it's all going to go a little Pete Tong...

[Belfast Boy]

RTE news tonight was full of doom and gloom about demise of property market. Graphs showed clearly that the Celtic Tiger was highly dependent on selling houses to each other and now that has stopped. Troubles ahead for a goverment which did not act in time to halt the HPI

uh-oh, how long before this news spreads north. Maybe it already has. Nothing much is happening in the housing market in Northern Ireland. But if the public in NI, gets to hear this news, our market is toast. Wonder will we lead the UK market down?

A friend is coming up from Dublin for the weekend. My brother told him that I thought, that the prices were droping in the south. I wonder is he still unaware of what is happening in the RoI market. Maybe I won't bother going out this weekend. He doesn't want to know ALL that I have learned on here. He is about to sell a house in the north

[itsme]

But as they did emigrate, they now form the backbone of the most powerful nation on earth - not such thick paddys as your feeble attempt at humour would seem to suggest

The Irish built New York, and never controlled it's finance......

and I did not say anything about them being thick nor get to the level of calling them " Paddys"

[Guest An Bearin Bui]

How could the Irish control HPI now when they could not even control the growth of potatoes which once led to a mass migration???

Like Britain's in a position to bandy insults about - it was clever Westminster-run policies of crowding people onto too much poor land on the western seaboard of Ireland that led to the dependency on one staple food group to begin with. Now how did the Westminster government think that was going to work, crowding people onto barren land and leaving them to subsist on nothing (being Catholic they were banned from university, the professions, land-owning etc)? Oh, that's right: it was a deliberate attempt to wipe them out and starve them to death - and a million people did die of starvation so I guess it worked: a cunning plan!

And please, don't even attempt to point the finger at Irish government policy when the British government is only subsisting at the moment through a) oil and gas (and that's us Scots) b.) weapons dealing c.) selling each other houses and d.) selling each other loans and derivatives based on those houses. Yeah, sounds like Britain really has this whole economy thing sorted. Don't worry though I'm sure if things start taking a downturn here you can always join the Army, get a free / subsidised house and then head off to Iraq / Afghanistan / next random Muslim country to murder, rape and pillage in true British Army style all for the princely sum of 20k-50k per year (plus bonuses!). You sound like the type they'd be keen to hire... i.e. ignorant

EDIT: and another thing - I am really getting tired of the posts I'm reading here bandying racist and offensive comments about. This isn't the first thread where I've read some pretty ignorant and racist remarks that have NOTHING to do with the economics of house prices. This is a forum for discussion of house prices and economics / business cycles generally (unless I'm sorely mistaken) so if you want to trade insults based on ignorance and no facts / figures then I suggest you find yourself a username and password for dailymailrant.com or fascistsunite.co.uk or wherever you people congregate: can we all get back to HOUSE PRICES now??? :angry:

Edited September 4, 2007 by An Bearin Bui

[itsme]

Like Britain's in a position to bandy insults about - it was clever Westminster-run policies of crowding people onto too much poor land on the western seaboard of Ireland that led to the dependency on one staple food group to begin with. Now how did the Westminster government think that was going to work, crowding people onto barren land and leaving them to subsist on nothing (being Catholic they were banned from university, the professions, land-owning etc)? Oh, that's right: it was a deliberate attempt to wipe them out and starve them to death - and a million people did die of starvation so I guess it worked: a cunning plan!

And please, don't even attempt to point the finger at Irish government policy when the British government is only subsisting at the moment through a) oil and gas (and that's us Scots) b.) weapons dealing c.) selling each other houses and d.) selling each other loans and derivatives based on those houses. Yeah, sounds like Britain really has this whole economy thing sorted. Don't worry though I'm sure if things start taking a downturn here you can always join the Army, get a free / subsidised house and then head off to Iraq / Afghanistan / next random Muslim country to murder, rape and pillage in true British Army style all for the princely sum of 20k-50k per year (plus bonuses!). You sound like the type they'd be keen to hire... i.e. ignorant

EDIT: and another thing - I am really getting tired of the posts I'm reading here bandying racist and offensive comments about. This isn't the first thread where I've read some pretty ignorant and racist remarks that have NOTHING to do with the economics of house prices. This is a forum for discussion of house prices and economics / business cycles generally (unless I'm sorely mistaken) so if you want to trade insults based on ignorance and no facts / figures then I suggest you find yourself a username and password for dailymailrant.com or fascistsunite.co.uk or wherever you people congregate: can we all get back to HOUSE PRICES now??? :angry:

relax please, I actually agree with you in many aspects of your sentiments( apart from your last comment).We are all caught up in this global financial problem and I do not wish to make capital out of the Irish, who are as much caught up as the rest of us.In reality all our governments have been acting for one cause alone., which is the primary objective to raise taxes.We have seen how the coffers have been filled via stamp duty, and have you also felt spitting rage when you receive parking fines and speeding tickets, again in order to raise tax?

IT seems quite obvious that we have been led into a HPI inflation purely because respective governemnets have been happy to allow debt creation in order to release taxes via borrowing.......