It said it did not expect unemployment to return to pre-Covid levels – it was under 5 per cent prior to the pandemic – until at least the end of 2023.The Covid-adjusted unemployment rate, which includes Pandemic Unemployment Payment recipients, stood at 24.8 per cent in February, which equates to almost 600,000 people.
This will increase the State’s debt-to-GDP ratio to 61.3 per cent, but it noted that an alternative measure of debt sustainability – the ratio of real interest payments to GDP – suggested the Government had more scope for fiscal policy.
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