THE GOVERNMENT has decided that the estimated €3.5 billion to €4 billion in savings it will seek in next week’s emergency budget will be almost equally divided between cutbacks and taxes.
The Cabinet yesterday held a three-hour meeting which, according to Government sources, came to almost full agreement on where the cuts in expenditure will be made and brought discussions on taxation measures to an advanced stage.
The sources said significant progress was made yesterday and that Ministers decided on a large number of items, and signed off on many of the cutbacks on public expenditure. According to the sources, only a few loose ends remain to be tied up in public sector cuts.
No details emerged as to the extent of the borrowing requirement for the remainder of 2009 and if it will exceed 9.5 per cent of GDP.
The Cabinet will resume discussions on taxation measures at today’s weekly meeting, expected to be dominated by the budget which will be announced on April 7th.
Today’s meeting will be the third meeting of the Cabinet in as many days, following two special meetings yesterday and Sunday. Yesterday’s meeting began at 4pm, shortly after Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan returned from his meeting with the board of Irish Nationwide about the position of its chief executive Michael Fingleton. The meeting concluded at 7pm.
The Government spokesman said last night that no other meeting has been planned as yet other than the normal weekly one this morning.
A meeting had been scheduled provisionally for next Saturday if necessary, to finalise the shape of the budget.
On Sunday, Taoiseach Brian Cowen stressed the magnitude of the problem with public finances.
