Fiscal Council endorses Government forecasts before budget

The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council has endorsed the Department of Finance's economic forecasts which have been prepared for next week's budget.

On Tuesday, the Department of Finance said it had downgraded its growth projections for the economy again amid risks associated with Brexit and a more uncertain global outlook.

The department now sees the economy growing at 4.2 per cent in terms of gross domestic product this year, down from 4.9 per cent in its summer economic statement. It cut its 2017 projection to 3.5 per cent from 3.9 per cent.

“The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council endorses as within the range of appropriate projections the set of macroeconomic forecasts prepared by the Department of Finance for Budget 2017 for the years 2016 and 2017,” the council said in a letter to the department, published on its website on Thursday.