News Trending

Irish economy expected to grow in next two years

By 118 0

A prominent think tank, the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), has projected solid growth for Ireland’s domestic economy in the next couple of years, driven by decreasing inflation and rising wages. They anticipate a 2.3% growth in modified domestic demand (MDD) for this year, followed by a 2.5% increase next year. MDD is a metric that filters out the influence of multinational corporations on Ireland’s economy. In 2023, MDD only saw a modest 0.5% growth due to factors like inflation and higher interest rates dampening spending and investment.

Despite a strong post-pandemic recovery, Ireland’s economic momentum slowed notably in 2023, partly due to increased inflation which hindered household finances. The ESRI noted a lack of real pay growth during 2022 and 2023. Real pay, adjusted for inflation, is a key indicator of changes in living standards. Both the ESRI and Ireland’s Central Bank anticipate an increase in real pay this year.

Traditionally, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) serves as the primary measure of economic performance; however, Ireland’s GDP is heavily skewed by multinational activities. Official data indicated a 3.2% contraction in Irish GDP in 2023. Usually, Irish GDP overestimates economic growth, but recent trends have shown the opposite, partly due to decreased sales and exports from US pharmaceutical companies’ Irish operations post-pandemic. The ESRI anticipates a recovery in Irish GDP over the next two years, driven by global trade improvements.

The ESRI also underscored the pressing need for Ireland to address well-documented infrastructure challenges, particularly in areas like housing, renewable energy, and public transport. Notably, plans for an underground rail link connecting Dublin Airport to the city center have reached the public planning hearings stage after more than two decades since the project’s inception.

Picture Courtesy: Google/images are subject to copyright

News Trending

WHO’s Latest Message On Covid Origin 3 Years Since It Declared Pandemic

By 270 0

The head of the World Health Organization stated in his clearest remarks to yet that the UN body remains dedicated to learning how the virus originated that learning the origins of COVID-19 is a moral necessity and all possibilities must be studied.

The Wall Street Journal stated that a US agency determined that the pandemic was most likely brought on by an unintentional Chinese laboratory leak, putting additional pressure on the WHO to provide an explanation. Beijing contests the analysis.

“Understanding #COVID19’s origins and exploring all hypotheses remains: a scientific imperative, to help us prevent future outbreaks (and) a moral imperative, for the sake of the millions of people who died and those who live with #LongCOVID,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Twitter.

He was writing to commemorate three years since the WHO used the term “pandemic” for the first time to describe the widespread COVID-19 epidemic.

The focus of the anniversary, according to activists, lawmakers, and academics, should be on averting a repetition of the unequal COVID-19 vaccine introduction, which they claim resulted in at least 1.3 million avoidable deaths.

After spending weeks in and around Wuhan, China, the site of the first human cases, a WHO-led team concluded in 2021 that the virus had likely been spread from bats to humans via another animal, though more investigation was required. China has said no additional visits are needed.

Since then, the WHO has established a scientific advisory group on dangerous pathogens, but it hasn’t made any determinations regarding how the pandemic started because it claims that important pieces of information are lacking.

Picture Courtesy: Google/images are subject to copyright