Written answers
Thursday, 2 April 2015
Department of Finance
General Government Debt
Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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83. To ask the Minister for Finance the extent to which the budget deficit as a percentage of gross domestic product has fluctuated in each of the past five years and in 2015 to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13844/15]
Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The budget deficits for the period 2010-2015 can be outlined as follows:
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014f | 2015f | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deficit (% GDP) | -32.4 | -12.6 | -8.0 | -5.7 | -3.7 | -2.7 |
| Underlying Deficit (% GDP) | -11.0 | -8.6 | -8.0 | -5.7 | -3.7 | -2.7 |
The underlying general government deficit excludes the one-off capital injections made to the financial sector and is the more relevant measure since it is that used for comparison under the Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP).
It should be noted that the historical general government deficit and GDP figures as outlined are available on the Central Statistics Office (CSO) website (www.cso.ie) and are updated when required. The Deputy should also be made aware that following the end-March 2015 EDP return, updated figures will be made available by the CSO in mid-April for the period 2011-2014. The first official results for 2015 will be published by the CSO as part of the quarter one government statistics in July 2015.
The next official forecasts will be published by my Department later this month.
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