DUBLIN, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Ireland is likely to run a
budget deficit at the upper end of a 25 to 30 billion euro range
this year as a result of the unprecedented fiscal response to
the COVID-19 pandemic, Deputy Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said
on Friday.
While Ireland has collected far more tax so far this year
than it expected early in the pandemic, government spending is
up 28% year-on-year. A deficit of 30 billion euros equated to
10% of gross domestic product (GDP) when the finance department
published its most recent projections in April.
Varadkar, Ireland's business minister, told a conference
that the government must focus on the hardest-hit industries
such as aviation and live events in October's budget for 2021
"to make sure they are still around" after the crisis.
(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Kevin Liffey)