Yesterday the US Federal Reserve announced an additional $800billion stimulus package while today the Peoples Bank of China are reported to have lowered interest rates by 1.08 percentage points [after three separate drops of 0.27% since Sept 16] and according to the International Herald Tribune report – “The European Commission on Wednesday outlined a 200 billion wish list of measures for Europe to spend its way out of recession, and gave national capitals permission to temporarily break budget deficit ceilings if needed.” The report also notes the criticism that the EC “have avoided telling specific countries what to do.” A point explored in this BBC report while the Wall Street Journal is scathing – “Prepare for a damp squib — albeit an expensive one.” Apparently Ireland is still banking on the patriotic shopper.. for now.. From the RTÉ report.
The Government has welcomed the Brussels plan, but the Department of Finance has signalled that Ireland has no room for a further fiscal stimulus at this stage. The Department said the National Development Plan and relatively low tax rates are in line with the EU’s package. It said the priority for countries like Ireland with relatively high deficits is to get the public finances back in order. It said those steps had been acknowledged by the European Commission’s recovery plan.