Ireland's National Debt....

[nui]

Finance Minister Brian Cowen has claimed that the national debt has been halved during the lifetime of this government. Foreign debt has been eliminated but our total National Debt figure has come down by less than 8% on the total amount owed since 1997 (See Total Column http://www.ntma.ie/NationalDebt/historicalData1.htm)

Maybe the money supposedly earmarked for paying off half of the debt was spent with to the construction industry building bits of roads linking our major villages around the country?


www.martinhogan.ie

[Sidewinder]

It's typical sleight-of-hand.

The public debt as a proportion of GDP has halved after a decade of economic growth, even if the actual total amount owed hasn't changed.

Meanwhile, private debt has soared past 200% of GDP, the highest proportion in the entire OECD.

[TheBear]

<Mod>Moved to the Economy forum.</Mod>