In its quarterly bulletin published in October, the Central Bank has warned that the outlook remains uncertain for the Irish economy, citing both the COVID-19 pandemic and the future trading arrangements between the EU and the UK as the cause. The bulletin assumes a no-deal Brexit, meaning that the EU and UK moving to WTO trading terms next year. Although Ireland’s economy fared better than most European countries – it recorded the smallest pandemic-related fall in GDP across Europe – it did experience one of the highest falls in consumer spending. Ireland’s exporting sector, particularly in pharma products remained strong enough to mitigate the overall fall in GDP, but the domestic sector fared badly due to the job losses caused by COVID-19 restrictions. The bank warned that unemployment would likely remain in double digits into next year. However, it did revise down its forecasted overall decline in GDP. Earlier this year it forecast a decline of 9 percent for 2020. It now forecasts a decline of only 0.4 percent for the year. It also projected the following: