DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland will aim to set aside 8 billion euros in its new "rainy day fund" over the medium term to help shield its booming economy from any potential shocks in the future, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said on Wednesday.
Ireland outlined plans for setting up the contingency reserve in 2016 and Donohoe said last year he would initiate it with 1.5 billion euros from the country's sovereign wealth fund, the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), and add 500 million euros a year for the next three years.
Donohoe will set aside the first 500 million euros as part of his budget for 2019, which will be announced in October.
"The medium term plan is that we would get this fund up to approximately 8 billion euro," Donohoe told the Newstalk radio station after the cabinet approved the establishment of the fund on Tuesday.
"We have many other needs that we have to meet each year but given how low the deficit is at the moment and given where our tax revenues are, I think it is appropriate to create an additional fund and an insurance policy for the kind of thing that we are not able to plan for at the moment."
(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Catherine Evans)
