Ireland's economy will grow by 3.1% this year, employers' group Ibec is predicting, down from the 5.3% it said it was anticipating for 2021 just three months ago.
Although lower than previously forecast, the organisation thinks expansion will still be driven by an acceleration of the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine through the second half of the year and continued export growth.
That recovery will gather pace into 2022, with GDP set to increase by 4.3% buoyed by the release of a large volumes of savings into the economy, the body has forecast. "An efficient vaccine roll-out might see the start of our recovery in the second half of 2021," writes chief economist, Gerard Brady, in Ibec's latest quarterly economic outlook. "2021 will not