Irish govt to borrow 14.8bln euros in 2011

DUBLIN: Ireland plans net borrowings of 14.8 billion euros ($21.6 billion) in 2011 and expects gross domestic product to total 156 billion euros, according to a submission to the European Union published on Tuesday.

A Department of Finance official said the figures, from a March 31 submission to the European statistics agency, would be superseded by comprehensive growth forecasts to be released on Friday.

Ireland expects 2011 GDP to hit 156.0 billion euros from 153.9 percent in 2010, according to the document, implying GDP growth of 1.34 percent.

The Irish government in December said it expected GDP to grow by 1.7 percent in 2011 but the International Monetary Fund recently downgraded its Irish growth forecast to 0.5 percent.