Public finances show deficit of €18.4 billion for 2020
Provisional figures from the Central Statistics Office published today show the deficit in the public finances was €18.4 billion last year, which represented 5% of GDP.
This is an improvement on the Budget Day forecast deficit of €21.6 billion.
The national debt stood last year at €218.2 billion or 59.5% of GDP. This was up from €204.2 billion or 57.4% of GDP in 2019.
Government revenue declined by 3.9%, or €3.5 billion, last year.
Expenditure increased by €16.7 billion or 19.1%. That delivered a swing in the public finances of €20.2 billion relative to the surplus of €1.8 billion recorded in 2019.
The Department of Finance will update its economic forecasts and outlook for the public finances when it publishes the Stability Programme Update tomorrow.
Article Source – Public finances show deficit of €18.4 billion for 2020 – RTE – Robert Shortt