Irish PM says Budget 2014 to be "tough"

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Irish PM says Budget 2014 to be "tough"

(Xinhua) 19:46, September 17, 2013

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Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny said Tuesday the Budget 2014, due to be delivered on Oct. 15, will be "tough" regardless of the scale of the financial adjustment.

Ireland's state broadcaster RTE quoted Kenny as saying that this will be the last of the "really tough" budgets.

He said the budget was going to be tough regardless of whether the adjustment was 3.1 billion euros (4.2 billion U.S. dollars) or 2.8 billion euros, adding that the government's objective was to restore the economy to good health and get people back to work.

Kenny said every area of spending had to be examined and that it was never easy getting to the last sections of what needs to be done.

He said Ireland was recognized internationally for what it had done in terms of the changes made, adding that he did "smell" signs of confidence.

Kenny said the budget will be designed to continue to attract international market confidence, where there is inward investment for job creation.

It will also deal with the delivery of good care for people and make it attractive for people to get back to work, he said.

Ireland is now set to exit its 85-billion-euro bailout by the end of this year. That will make it the first eurozone state to end its dependence on a European Union aid program.

However, economists say Ireland's macroeconomic landscape has improved dramatically over the last number of years but challenges still remain. (1 euro = 1.34 U.S. dollars)

（Editor：YanMeng、Gao Yinan）