The International Monetary Fund is forecasting slippage in the Government's deficit target for this year.
In a new report on fiscal sustainability, the IMF said Ireland's fiscal deficit this year will be 10.8%, an increase of 0.8% on the Government's medium-term plan.
The IMF also said the Government deficit will not reach the 3% target level in either 2015, as in the Programme for Government, or 2016, when it is forecast to be 3.8%.
The report criticised the US and Japan for not engaging in fiscal tightening, but said Europe is making good progress.
Only Japan, the US and Ireland will have budget deficits in excess of 10% this year, out of 59 advanced and emerging economies surveyed by the IMF.
The IMF warned that debt ratios are still rising in most advanced economies and government borrowing needs are at historic highs.
It said the average government gross debt ratio is projected to breach 100% of GDP for the first time since the aftermath of World War II.
It has urged all countries, but especially the US, to do more to reduce debt and deficit levels.
The IMF said the European Central Bank has bought government bonds worth €77bn, which market sources say were mostly from Ireland, Greece and Portugal.
It says if this is correct, then ECB purchases during 2010 would have represented around 87% of the fiscal deficit in these three countries.
Meanwhile, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin are meeting representatives of the ECB, the EU and the IMF today.
