MODEST ECONOMIC growth could be on the horizon for Northern Ireland next year but it is unlikely to exceed more than 0.5 per cent in GDP terms, a leading economist has predicted.
Mike Smith, head of the School of Economics at the University of Ulster, believes the North’s economy is beginning to display “less negative trends”.
Commenting in the latest First Trust Economic Outlook and Business Review he said “it is not unreasonable to expect a return to positive economic growth in 2010”. But he warned that recovery will be slow and the North’s economy this year will remain fairly flat.
Separately yesterday, official data showed British consumer price inflation fell to its lowest level in over a year in April after bigger-than-expected declines in the cost of food, gas and electricity.
The Office for National Statistics said consumer prices rose just 0.2 per cent last month, taking the annual rate down to 2.3 per cent from 2.9 percent in March – the lowest since January 2008 and below the 2.4 per cent expected by analysts.
The broader RPI measure of inflation, which includes falling mortgage interest payments and is used in many wage and benefit agreements, fell to -1.2 per cent, the lowest since records began in June 1948. – (Additional reporting: Reuters)
