Sovereign wealth fund

Sir, – While we wait to see how the €6.4 billion budgetary package is to be allocated, notwithstanding what’s known already about cost of living, tax changes and public spending amounts already announced, one other issue that touches upon all this is the intended establishment in Ireland for the first time of a sovereign wealth fund, an idea floated some time ago.

While the principal purpose of such a fund is to invest extra capital monies into markets or other investments, and to stabilise an economy to avoid potential future volatility, it’s important that we don’t forget to consider the public expenditure element of €5.2 billion of the current budgetary package at the same time as the Government considers how it may want to deal with an intended wealth fund, as the objectives of both might well be the same. The answer to this point may well come down to timing of the set-up of the fund.

Quite apart from questions of volatility, such as sudden rises in inflation, it would be interesting to hear what progress the Government has made in its thinking about a possible wealth fund, when it’s likely to be set up, and to what extent, if at all, the purposes to which that fund might be put relate to, or are connected in any way, with the Government’s intended €5.2 billion public spending plans. – Yours, etc,

ALASTAIR CONAN,