Ireland Delivers a Cautious Budget as Surplus Shrinks (2)

Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe delivered a cautious financial plan for the coming year as he forecast that the country’s enviable budget surplus will drop by half in 2026.

The government expects the balance to shrink to €5.1 billion ($6 billion) in 2026 from €10.2 billion this year. That’s an unwelcome outlook for the economy, which is highly dependent on US investment and is trying to deal with the fallout from Donald Trump’s global tariff blitz.

Ireland still has far more fiscal room than many of its European peers, such as France, which is mired in a long-running political crisis ...