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00:00Minister inflation, I'm sure. Front and center annual meetings. Energy crisis, front and center, what really dominates the conversation at the moment and how does it impact your country? So inflation continues to be the key item that's been discussed here in the IMF meetings, whether it be the European Union, whether it be the Irish economy. We're all experiencing the consequences of higher levels of inflation generated in turn by the energy shock created by the war on the people of Ukraine. So a key item of discussion here is how we can have the appropriate economic policy response spark that gets inflation down, but also supports high levels of employment, which of course, is so vital to the future of our economies. Let's go. I am curious here about the potential ramifications, particularly for Ireland and really for the eurozone as a whole. But let's start off with your home country here and the prosperity that it's seen over the last really couple of decades, primarily because of its embrace of sort of globalization and more importantly, a lot of these multinational companies. Does that presence and that dependence on some of those companies for your economic fortunes, does that come back to bite you if we do end up in a prolonged global recession? So actually, I believe the diversity of the Irish economy, the fact that we now have a very large and indigenous economy and domestic economy that has developed over many decades. And while you're correct to call ISE that we do have a large group of international employers in Ireland there over many, many, many different sectors of the global economy. So I'm very confident about the ability of the Irish economy to grow. But at the same time, we're not complacent. And it's one of the reasons why we've made great efforts to bring our national finances back to a position of surplus. It's why we've reopened the National Reserve Fund to deposit the taxation receipts of today to get ready for the challenges of tomorrow. And it's why we continue to support different parts of our economy so that we will have a more diverse employment base within the Irish economy. So I'm confident about our prospects, but never complacent. Always aware of the additional work that we need to do. It's an economy that the IMF is downgrading, at least on a global basis as well, seeing lower economic growth on the horizon. And still with some of these big sort of inflationary numbers underway, is stagflation now a new part of your vocabulary? So a phenomena like that is, of course, a risk which we've always acknowledged within the euro area and within the European Union. But all that being said, I still do believe we have the ability to manage the economic challenge of higher inflation in the appropriate way. The ECB are going to take the steps that are necessary to reduce inflation, because in the absence of that, we will be poorer for longer. And within the European Union, in particular amongst finance ministers that charity Euro, we are committed to coordinating budgetary policy in such a way that it supports employment, helps the vulnerable, but doesn't get in the way as well. I'm trying to pull inflation down. So, yes, there are risks. We're aware of them. We acknowledge them, but we believe we have the consensus in place to guide our economy through this. It's been interesting to hear the IMF speak out so vehemently against a key member, a key supporter, which is, of course, the United Kingdom really calling out the fiscal policy being at odds with monetary policy in the UK at the moment. We've seen the crisis that unfolded in the bond market, worries about the pension funds. Now your yields are significantly lower than that of the UK at the moment in terms of borrowing costs. You are in any way worried about a spillover effect or similar similar cracks being shown in the financial markets when you see rates go up so quickly. So within the EU and of course, within Ireland, we monitor what happens in many different parts of the world because in the interdependent global economy that we're in. Developments in one part of the world can affect us all. And of course, when any risk develops in an economy like the United Kingdom, which is a close friend of Ireland, I believe we can have a positive political relationship with the European Union in the years to come. Of course, we continue to monitor it, monitor us. But all that being said, the British government have indicated that they're taking the steps that they believe are necessary to respond back to recent developments. And I I am confident in the ability of an economy as big as the United Kingdom are guided by our institutions to take the appropriate steps. But we'll continue to monitor what happens in the UK and elsewhere, because it is a moment of challenge. But we're going to focus on what we can influence, which is the budgetary policy within the European Union and supporting the ECB and the steps that they need to take to pull inflation down. With regards to the energy crisis, specifically, how much support are you willing to give for some of the proposals that are on the table with regard to basically shoring up or at least maybe blunting some of the impact of these higher energy prices? And, of course, what a lot of people seem to think is a permanent disruption, dislodging of the dependence on Russia. So it's beyond to support the new proposals. It's about implementing all the recent agreements that we've already made. And Europe in 2022 has now been in play step start in 2021. I wouldn't have even told possible building or shared gas reserves to manage a supply shock, putting in place new measures to manage and reduce consumption in a coordinated way across the European Union. All of this has been done at the moment, but we are having a debate regarding what additional steps need to be taken to see how we can manage price in a more effective way. It's true to say we haven't reached agreement on DAX. Yes, it's happening amongst energy ministers and prime ministers, but I do believe in the time ahead we will find a form of agreement and we'll come together again within Europe to manage the the energy shock that is only intensifying at the moment.

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Confident In Ireland's Economic Growth, Says FinMin

Ireland's finance minister Paschal Donohoe says he is confident in the U.K's ability to manage the economic challenge of higher inflation and is positive the Irish economy will grow, adding that they are not complacent. Donohoe spoke with Bloomberg's Caroline Hyde, Romaine Bostick & Taylor Riggs. (Source: Bloomberg)

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