An influential financial advisory company has claimed Ireland will have the greatest recovery rate among eurozone members next year.

World wide financial experts Ernst & Young said their quarterly eurozone forecast predicts Ireland will jump from its current position of 15th up to second in terms of GDP growth in 2011 at 2.8%.

In it's European investment survey, the company said that Ireland, despite being bruised by plans to shift manufacturing jobs to more cost-competitive countries, had a 35% increase in project numbers as British and US companies continue to invest.

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However, the survey still found that the economy would be contracting by 1% this year and forecast an annual unemployment rate of 12.6% until at least 2014.

It warnedthat any medium-term economic recovery in Ireland will be largely jobless.

Ernst Young also vindicated the Government's handling of the situation saying that corrective action taken by the Government had shielded Ireland from a Greek-style financial crisis.

It also founds that Ireland's cost base had fallen further than any other country in the eurozone in both 2009 and 2010.

Inflation rates fell by 1.7% in 2009 and the full-year forecast for 2010 is for an additional fall of 1%.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen has said the Government will hold fast on its decision to impose €3 billion in public sector cuts in next December’s budget, despite growth returning to the economy next year.

(DW/GK)