Economic growth will run at 6 per cent both this year and next, according to the latest forecasts from Bank of Ireland Global Markets.
Growth is picking up, according to Dr Dan McLaughlin, the bank's economist, who predicts that a revival in consumer spending will push Gross Domestic Product growth to 6 per cent this year, with a similar figure estimated for 2005.
The economy "is virtually firing on all cylinders again", according to Dr McLaughlin, who is sticking to his view that we are entering a "Tiger2" era.
Construction is booming, trade has recovered and the only area of underperformance is consumer spending. However, he now sees signs from tax data and confidence indicators that "consumers have begun to spend more freely".
With multinational profits also rising, the bank is forecasting slower Gross National Product growth of 5.5 per cent this year and 5.2 per cent next year.
The main risk is a high oil price, it believes, but the bank believes that this will now retrace to below $40 a barrel and points out that a higher price would slow the ECB from moving interest rates higher.
