GOVERNMENT GIVEN UNEXPECTED BUDGET BOOST
The government’s been handed an unexpected budget boost from the Central Bank.
The bank’s returned 1.7 billion euro in profits to the taxpayer for 2014, 300 million more than planned for in the Budget.
It means the government has extra leeway for tax cuts and spending increases in the Budget in six months’ time.
The information’s released in the bank’s annual report.
Central Bank governor Patrick Honohan is expected to announce plans to retire at the conference, stepping down before the end of the year.