Irish c.bank recommends tailor-made target for state debt pile

DUBLIN, Sept 5 (Reuters) - There are "compelling reasons" to develop a lower national target for Ireland (Other OTC: IRLD - news) 's stock of public debt in addition to EU rules that say states should keep the ratio of debt to gross domestic product at 60 percent or less, its central bank governor said.

"The volatile nature of the Irish macro-financial system and the history of crises suggests a debt target that should be materially below the appropriate level for a larger, more stable economy," Philip Lane wrote in his annual pre-budget letter to Finance Minister, published by the central bank on Monday.

"Second, the well-known interpretation issues with measured GDP for Ireland makes it obvious that standard fiscal indicators (expressed as ratios of GDP) need to be supplemented with locally-developed targets that are robust to statistical issues." (Reporting by Padraic Halpin)