The State may find itself footing a bill of up to €25bn in the economic war on Coronavirus, according to KBC’s Austin Hughes. Mr Hughes, who is KBC’s Chief Economist for Ireland, had initially put the budget cost of Covid-19 at around €15bn but has now dramatically increased his estimate, saying that the virus will lead to a sharp economic downturn. Read MoreSo far, the Government has earmarked €6.7bn for wage support and other measures, a number that is equivalent to 1.9pc of economic output here and which is just below the European Union’s average. Although Mr Hughes said that demand in the Irish economy would recover, the speed and spread of a pick-up in spending will be hurt by elevated uncertainty. The United Nations today called for 10pc of global GDP to spent and said poorer nations needed to be helped.

Source: Irish Independent April 01, 2020 12:00 UTC