Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 23 May 2000

Vol. 519 No. 5

Written Answers. - Credit Growth.

Donal Carey

Question:

86 Mr. D. Carey asked the Minister for Finance if he is concerned that Irish private sector credit growth is likely to remain significantly above the euro-zone average for the foreseeable future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14213/00]

Minister for Finance (Mr. McCreevy):

The monitoring of growth of private sector credit in Ireland and prudential supervision of credit institutions in general is a matter for the Central Bank and I, as Minister for Finance, have no function in the matter.

However, for the information of the Deputy I set out below some statistics on credit growth in Ireland along with figures on economic growth in Ireland and the euro-zone. The growth in credit reflects Ireland's economic growth which has been a multiple of the euro-zone average for some time. This economic growth has in turn been brought about by the stable economic framework we have in place today.

Credit Growth in Ireland

Year	Unadjusted year-to-year % change in credit growth (end Dec)
1995	16.9
1996	16.7
1997	29.6
1998	22.6
1999	33.5

Source: Central Bank of Ireland quarterly bulletin.

Growth in the Irish and euro zone economy over the period has been as follows:

Growth in GDP in Ireland and Euro zone

Year	Real Growth (% change per annum) in Irish GDP	Real Growth (% change per annum) in EU-11 Average GDP
1995	9.5	2.3
1996	7.7	1.4
1997	10.7	2.3
1998	8.9	2.7
1999	7.8	2.1

Source: Eurostat