Outlook for Irish economy increasingly upbeat so long as reopening delays are temporary, says Central Bank

Ireland’s domestic economy is set to rebound more quickly in 2021 than anticipated, the Central Bank has said.

Despite the Government’s decision to delay the resumption of indoor dining, domestic activity is now on schedule to return to pre-pandemic levels and above as early as 2022.

Modified domestic demand — a measure of indigenous economic activity that attempts to strip out the activities of multinational companies — is forecast to grow by 3.4% in 2021 and 5.6% in 2022 after collapsing by 5% in 2020.

The Central Bank had pencilled in domestic growth of just 2.8% in its last Quarterly Bulletin in April.