FOREIGN DIRECT investment in Ireland could rise by as much as 60 per cent for the year, a new report claimed yesterday.

According to the quarterly Foreign Direct Investment report from National Irish Bank, 2011 is set to be a strong year for investment, with recent data from the UN Conference on Trade and Development reporting that €2.5 billion of greenfield foreign direct investment was announced between January and April.

According to NIB, this is more than half the total for 2010, and, should investment continue at this rate, it would mean an increase for the year of about 60 per cent on 2010.

NIB chief economist Dr Ronnie O’Toole said the level of investment was “a clear positive”.

However, he warned that Irish exports, a major factor in the country’s economic recovery, could be hit by the global slowdown.

Forecasts for the year previously put export growth at 7 per cent for the year, but NIB revised this growth to 5.5 per cent.

“The global financial markets have been hit by a nasty cocktail of worsening macro-data and rising discontent among policymakers, which is affecting the outlook for Ireland’s key markets in the US and Europe.

“A low-growth scenario for the coming two to three years seems increasingly likely in these markets,” Dr O’Toole said.

Sluggish growth in the euro zone, which accounts for almost 40 per cent of Irish exports, along with sluggish growth in the UK, could could have an adverse impact.

However, the report noted that, in the case of the UK, high inflation allowed Irish exporters to increase their prices.