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The Taoiseach has reaffirmed that there will be no increases in income tax this year despite the billions that were borrowed to prop up the economy.
Micheal Martin said that the coalition will honor the commitment in the Government Program, but added that “there could be other areas of income generation that cannot be ruled out.”
But when asked about increases in income tax or USC, the leader of Fianna Fail added: “The income tax, we have said, we are not going to increase.”
And when pressed about USC, he said, “Similarly, similar, yes.”
Martin added that the state will borrow around 40 billion euros between 2020 and 2021.
He said: “This year’s deficit is around 6.5%, it could be 5.7% is the goal next year.
“The initial focus will be on reducing the deficit again in the post-Covid era.
“We have been able to borrow cheap, very cheap, thanks to the policies and approaches of the ECB.
“That will be the first emphasis. There are a lot of loans that have been exclusively related to Covid and there are loans that are not related to Covid and a lot will depend on the post-Covid economic growth.
“We have received different analyzes in terms of what would ideally happen in a post-Covid environment.
“So you have about 12.5 billion euros in additional family savings this year than you would have had last.
year and that is quite significant.
“That could be released into the economy over time when people become concerned about the impact of Covid on their own personal lives.
“For economic growth to take care of some, there could be other areas of income generation that cannot be ruled out.”
Mr. Martin said that he will “never use the word absolute again”, but that the commitment made at PfG will be realized.
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