Rory O'Hanlon
Ceist:32 Dr. O'Hanlon asked the Minister for Finance the impact on inflation, the Exchequer borrowing requirement and the budget deficit of increases in expenditure announced since the budget on 8 February 1995. [6276/95]
Vol. 451 No. 6
32 Dr. O'Hanlon asked the Minister for Finance the impact on inflation, the Exchequer borrowing requirement and the budget deficit of increases in expenditure announced since the budget on 8 February 1995. [6276/95]
34 Mr. B. Ahern asked the Minister for Finance if the Government remains firmly committed to the fiscal policy parameters laid down in A Government of Renewal. [6378/95]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 32 and 34 together.
The Government remains firmly committed to the fiscal policy parameters set out in our policy programme. Briefly, these envisage strict adherence to Maastricht's fiscal convergence criteria — i.e., that the annual general Government deficit should be no more than 3 per cent of GDP, and that the gross debt-GDP ratio will continue to decline satisfactorily towards 60 per cent. In that context, we undertook to maintain the EBR prudently below 3 per cent of GNP, and to restrict the growth of current supply spending to a maximum of 6 per cent in nominal terms in 1995 and to an average annual rate of 2 per cent in real terms over the following two years of the programme.