Ireland to raise growth forecast, appoint central bank head soon - fin min

BLED, Slovenia (Reuters) - Ireland will raise its economic growth forecast for 2015 when it updates figures next month, by which time a new central bank governor will have been appointed, Finance Minister Michael Noonan said on Tuesday. After growing by over 5 percent in 2014, Ireland's economy is set to be the best performing in Europe again this year and Noonan predicted in July it may grow slightly more than the 4 percent forecast by the government. He would not specify what level it would be revised up to but told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in Slovenia that he would appoint a successor to central bank head and European Central Bank governing council member Patrick Honohan "sometime at the end of September or early October." (Reporting by Marja Novak, writing by Padraic Halpin in Dublin)