Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Thursday, 19 April 2018
Public Accounts Committee
Chapter 1 - Exchequer Financial Outturn for 2016
Chapter 2 - Government Debt
Chapter 24 - Irish Fiscal Advisory Council
9:00 am
Mr. John McCarthy:
The position is that there is still a small amount of slack in the economy and we are kind of catching up. We are not yet at what one might call full employment. Because of the crisis, there are still scarce resources in the economy, but by next year we will be close to full employment. Thereafter, the cruising speed of the economy will be about 3%. In the medium term our best estimate is that we can probably grow the economy at about 3% per annum. Therefore, it is sustainable, but there is always the possibility of a surprise, be it positive or negative. At this time, the economy is in good shape.
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