“Starting to fire on all cylinders” is part of the analysis about Ireland’s economy made by the International Monetary Fund.
The new report also notes there remain high unemployment, widespread mortgage arrears (15% of all mortgage holders) and a housing market which is still 38% below the peak.
“Ireland’s recovery is off to a good start in 2013–14, with some of the adverse legacies from the crisis beginning to heal,” the IMF finds.
Recognising the country’s successful emergence from the Great Recession, the agency is pegging Irish economic growth of 3.5% this year.
The jobless rate has dropped to 10% after hitting 15%. The rate before the crisis, however, was 4.5%.
House prices have begun to go up, but despite a jump of 16% last year, they are still 38% lower than they were in 2008 before the crash.
Ireland had a €67.5bn bailout loan from the Troika and instituted a programme of deep austerity. Five years of spending cuts followed, but the government was able to exit the bailout programme at the end of 2013.
Dublin insisted on maintaining its 12.5% corporation tax rate, unusually low by international standards, throughout the crisis negotiations with its international creditors.
