Brussels, 05/11/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 5 November, a spokesperson for EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn highlighted the “structural reforms” that Ireland will have to introduce to meet its budget consolidation targets, saying that these structural reforms would create the conditions for sustainable medium-term growth although their immediate impact in this domain would be negative. The spokesperson refused to comment on the continued rise in interest rates on ten-year loans for Ireland, despite the additional austerity measures announced by the Irish government on Thursday.
Olli Rehn will be in Dublin on Monday and Tuesday of next week. He published a press release on Friday praising the €6 billion of budget consolidation incorporated into the Irish budget for 2011. He said that Ireland meeting its pledge to bring its deficit back down to below the 3% GDP cut-off point by 2014 was an important “anchor” for the financial markets and demonstrated the government's desire to ensure debt-reduction was sustainable. He added that tough but necessary choices still needed to be made on the measures required to meet this objective. Ireland has postponed publication of its four-year austerity programme until the end of the month. Next week, Rehn will be meeting Irish officials, the governor of the Irish Central Bank, leading politicians and representatives of employers and trade unions. (M.B./transl.fl)