Ireland's GDP to fall by 10.5 pct in 2020 due to pandemic impact: report

Ireland's gross domestic product (GDP) will fall by 10.5 pct in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, said a report released by the Irish Department of Finance on Tuesday.

The report said that the economic landscape in Ireland and across the globe has fundamentally changed following the COVID-19 outbreak, and the restrictions to limit the spread of the COVID-19 have resulted in a severe recession and unprecedented levels of unemployment in the country.

The unemployment rate in Ireland is likely to hit a record high of 22 percent in the second quarter of this year, it said, adding that the total employment in Ireland will fall by 9.3 percent this year with approximately 220,000 jobs being lost.

The report predicted that the Irish government will run a deficit of 23 billion euros (about 25 billion U.S. dollars) in 2020, which will account for 7.4 percent of the country's GDP.

The debt-to-GDP ratio in the country will rise to 69 percent this year, it said. In 2019, Ireland's debt-to-GDP ratio dropped below 60 percent for the first time in more than a decade, according to the latest figures released by the country's Central Statistics Office.

Domestic demand will also drop by 15 percent this year, said the report.

It also said that if virus containment is successful, the country's economy can be expected to recover in the second half of this year and will continue to grow into next year with the economic growth expected to reach 6 percent in 2021.

Under the same conditions, the country's jobless rate can also expect to drop below 10 percent in the next year, it said. (1 euro = 1.083 U.S. dollars)

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)