Consumer confidence sinks

Ireland’s consumer confidence has been seriously eroded by rising inflation, according to economist Jim Powers of Friends First.

Powers warned last week of negative equity and a slump in wages in the months ahead.

Difficult choices lie ahead for the Department of Finance, he said, after the department issued a statement revising growth figures downwards.

Consumer spending may be the lowest since the early 1990s, he added.

GDP was revised down from 3.9 percent to 3.6 percent by the Department of Finance in its Economic Review and Outlook statement.