DAVY VIEW

April was a poor month for tax revenues at 6% the monthly target, but on the back of volatile value added tax and corporation tax repayments that tell us little about underlying trends. In the first four months of 2019, tax revenues are up 5.7% on the same period of last year – broadly in line with Budget targets. Gross current (+4%) and capital expenditure (+26%) are both up sharply but inside Budget limits. Overall, this leaves the government balance €42m ahead of target in the four months to April.