02/11/2009
Economy Will Grow Next Year: Foster
The NI Government has great expectations that the local economy will soon return to growth.
Arlene Foster, (pictured) the Stormont Enterprise Minister said today that NI will be out of recession in 2010.
She explained that forecasts commissioned by her department suggested "a return to marginal growth" next year.
According to her, the impact of the recession in NI is already less than it has been in the rest of the UK, where the economy is expecting to suffer a larger fall than the 4.3% drop in NI.
In a response to Assembly questions, the Minister said that NI's economy difficulties are due to the global recession: with unemployment continuing to rise and output continuing to fall.
However, she pointed the relatively large size of the public sector had helped lessen the impact of recession in the country.
But Minister Foster said recent trends have revealed a slowdown in the rate of decline with the latest increase in the number of people suffering unemployment being the lowest for the last 15 months.
"Also, while output levels for the service sector remained flat during quarter two, 2009, revised figures for the first quarter of the year registered growth for the first time in two years," she added.
In fact, there have been several initiatives that help show the way out to the economic downturn.
Last month, top executives from the UK and Chinese aerospace industries visited Northern Ireland.
The meeting, organised by UK Trade and Investment in conjunction with Invest NI and the West of England Aerospace Forum, was considered by the Minister as being indicative of the local sector's international reputation.
Foster said the visit represented an excellent opportunity to establish and build relationships with the emerging aerospace sector in China - one of the world's most powerful countries.
She also stated these links "will also have the potential to deliver valuable supply chain opportunities for the many local companies in the sector".
Last week, research by Northern Bank also suggested that consumer confidence in NI while still low, is now gradually increasing.
(CL/BMcC)
Arlene Foster, (pictured) the Stormont Enterprise Minister said today that NI will be out of recession in 2010.
She explained that forecasts commissioned by her department suggested "a return to marginal growth" next year.
According to her, the impact of the recession in NI is already less than it has been in the rest of the UK, where the economy is expecting to suffer a larger fall than the 4.3% drop in NI.
In a response to Assembly questions, the Minister said that NI's economy difficulties are due to the global recession: with unemployment continuing to rise and output continuing to fall.
However, she pointed the relatively large size of the public sector had helped lessen the impact of recession in the country.
But Minister Foster said recent trends have revealed a slowdown in the rate of decline with the latest increase in the number of people suffering unemployment being the lowest for the last 15 months.
"Also, while output levels for the service sector remained flat during quarter two, 2009, revised figures for the first quarter of the year registered growth for the first time in two years," she added.
In fact, there have been several initiatives that help show the way out to the economic downturn.
Last month, top executives from the UK and Chinese aerospace industries visited Northern Ireland.
The meeting, organised by UK Trade and Investment in conjunction with Invest NI and the West of England Aerospace Forum, was considered by the Minister as being indicative of the local sector's international reputation.
Foster said the visit represented an excellent opportunity to establish and build relationships with the emerging aerospace sector in China - one of the world's most powerful countries.
She also stated these links "will also have the potential to deliver valuable supply chain opportunities for the many local companies in the sector".
Last week, research by Northern Bank also suggested that consumer confidence in NI while still low, is now gradually increasing.
(CL/BMcC)
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