Dublin-based stockbroking firm NCB has predicted that Ireland’s export sector will perform robustly this year on the back of a global recovery, but domestic demand will remain subdued.

“Net exports are therefore set to be the main driver of growth in both 2010 and 2011 as the domestic Irish economy remains weak,” NCB said yesterday in its Irish Economy Monitor.

The firm also expects that prices will fall further this year, and has forecasted that HICP – a measure of inflation – will fall by 1.2 per cent.

“We expect the volume of retail sales to grow in 2010,” it added.