Dept of Finance publishes estimates

Updated: 12:43, Monday, 7 December 2009

The Department of Finance has published its estimates of income and expenditure for next year.

1 of 1Department of Finance - Estimates
Department of Finance - Estimates

It projects a rise in current spending next year of €5 billion, because of extra social welfare and debt service costs.

However, the estimates take no account of the Government's cuts of at least €4bn planned for the Budget, or of any additional capital investments in the banks.

These estimates are in effect the opening position for next Wednesday's budget - in other words what the Government expects to spend before it applies the €4bn or so in planned cuts.

Social welfare spending is projected to go up by €3bn, as unemployment rises, and servicing the growing national debt will require an extra €2bn in interest payments.

Strip out the €7bn cost of nationalising Anglo Irish bank and recapitalising the other main banks, and capital spending is projected to rise by €125m next year to €7.6bn.

The estimates make no provision for any further bank capitalisation measures in 2010.

They also do not take account of the €750m cut in capital spending signalled in April's Budget - a figure that is likely to rise in Wednesday's Budget.

On the income side the Department of Finance expects the corporation tax take to be down by €500m next year, but anticipates new income of €1bn in payments from the banks for the guarantee scheme.

The general Government balance - the measure of how much the government will have to borrow - is estimated at 11.75% of GDP this year, rising to 13.5% next year - all before the Government's planned cuts equivalent to 2% of GDP, which aim to stabilise the deficit at 11.5% next year.

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