Irish economy in surprise decline, threatens debt-cutting plan

Data from ireland's Central Statistics Office (CSO) indicated on the 13 March 2014 that its gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 2.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013, turning a year that had been expected to yield modest growth into a 0.3 percent recession for the year as a whole.

Analysts attributed the decline to the so-called pharmaceutical patent cliff, with a sharp drop-off in revenue from pharmaceutical sales as a number of drugs made in Ireland lose intellectual property protection. The results cast a pall over the country's full return to the financial markets.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Ireland to officially exit bailout programme http://www.europeansources.info/record/ireland-to-officially-exit-bailout-programme/

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