DUBLIN, July 18 (Xinhua) -- The Irish government's debt to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio fell for the eighth consecutive quarter in the first quarter of 2023 (Q1), according to official data released on Tuesday.
At the end of Q1 2023, the Irish government's debt-to-GDP ratio stood at 43.5 percent. This was 0.9 percentage points lower than the fourth quarter of last year, and 16.5 percentage points lower than Q1 2021, said Ireland's Central Statistics Office (CSO).
Meanwhile, the gross debt of the Irish government stood at 223.6 billion euros (252 billion U.S. dollars) at the end of Q1 2023.
In the first quarter of this year, the total revenue of the Irish government increased to 27.7 billion euros, mainly due to increased tax revenue. Its total expenditure also grew to 25.9 billion euros due to increased social benefits and other factors, resulting in an overall government surplus of 1.8 billion euros in Q1, said the CSO.
The CSO figures also showed that the Irish government has achieved a fiscal surplus for four consecutive quarters since Q2 2022. (1 euro=1.12 U.S. dollars) ■