#Ports&Economy - Public finances look likely to substantially overshoot the Government's deficit target for this year, reports The Irish Times, following the release of new positive data on the economy.

Experts are speculating that the Goverment could cut its planned Budget adjustment for next year by half in money terms, to €1 billion from €2 billion, and still bring in a deficit of below three per cent of Gross Domestic Product.

The latest Quarterly National Accounts, which were published this morning by the Central Statistics Office, indicate that on a seasonally-adjusted basis there was a 2.7 per cent increase in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the first quarter of this year compared to the fourth quarter of last year.

Gross National Product (GNP) rose by 0.5 per cent over the same period.