Former European Commissioner Peter Sutherland said this morning Ireland’s economy is “not the basket case that is being presented at home and abroad by any means.”
Mr Sutherland also said in an interview with RTE radio he doesn’t see “any substantial attack” on his position as BP chairman at the company’s upcoming annual general meeting.
“We have a major budget deficit problem” and we know the “difficulties of getting out of that are considerable and there will be a lot of pain involved”.
However, he said debate on the national finances was ignoring strengths in the economy, adding that the position “in many respects is not quite as bad as is being painted”.
“Ireland’s GDP per capita, if 100 was to be taken as the EU average, Ireland following an 8 per cent decline this year would be around 135. The UK and Germany will between 114 and 117 and Japan 107.
“So we still remain a wealthy country with an immediate and serious problem in our budget deficit, but we are a wealth country.”
He said export data for this year showed Irish exports were due to decline 5.9 per cent. Mr Sutherland contrasted this with forecasted export declines of 16.5 per cent in Germany and Italy 15.9 per cent and the UK by 9.8 per cent.
“Why is that? The reason is that our industries are basically modern industries, pharmaceuticals, information technology and services. That again is a strength. In lots of ways the Irish economy is very resilient.”
Mr Sutherland also said in an interview with RTE radio he doesn’t see “any substantial attack” on his position as BP chairman at the company’s upcoming annual general meeting.