Budget 'last big push' - Lenihan

Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan said today’s Budget represented “the last big push” of the economic crisis.

Mr Lenihan insisted that while further financial corrections will be needed in coming years, none will be as drastic as Budget 2010.

If the Government had not taken the appropriate steps to curb spending over the last year, Mr Lenihan said, borrowing would have "ballooned towards 20 per cent of GDP" and put "the very financial survival of this country at risk".

In his Budget statement he pointed out that GDP had fallen by about 7.5 per cent over the last 12 months – the largest fall since records began and said that average GDP for 2010 as a whole was projected to be down by around 1.25 per cent on 2009.

He expressed the hope that with the international economy exiting recession and recent indicators suggesting that "economic activity in this country is turning the corner" there could be a return to growth within the next six to nine months.

"The effort that is demanded of every citizen in this Budget is substantial but it is the last big push of this crisis. Further corrections will be needed in the coming years but none as big as today's," he said.

"Having already provided for an adjustment of €1bn in capital spending, we have pencilled in an adjustment in day to day spending of about €2bn for 2011 "as strengthening economic conditions begin to lend a hand in closing the deficit."