Strong pharmaceuticals boosted overall export growth significantly in 2018 with one product, vaccines, accounting for 36 per cent of total merchandise exports on average in the ten months to October 2018.18 MNCs continue to play an important role in the Irish economy today and are estimated to account for 22 per cent of total employment.19 The public finances in Ireland have improved markedly since the crisis although the debt-to-GNI* ratio remains elevated and above 100 per cent.
Especially if the distressed institution is large or prominent, the panic can spread to other banks, with potentially debilitating consequences for the economy as a whole.