In its biannual economic outlook, the central bank forecast growth of at least 1.4 percent this year, unchanged from its December outlook, but trimmed its forecast for 2017 growth to 1.5 percent from 1.6 percent.

For 2018, it expects 1.6 percent growth.

With low energy costs pulling down consumer prices, inflation would rise only 0.2 percent this year before picking up to 1.1 percent in 2017 and 1.4 percent in 2018, it said.

But coupled with a falling savings rate, that would fuel healthy purchasing power gains for consumers this year despite only moderate wage increases, the central bank said.

Stars were also seen aligning for a rebound in corporate investment by 3.4 percent this year and only slightly less in the next two years as firms are expected to benefit from recovering demand, cheap borrowing costs and improving profitability.

However, with growth hovering around the 1.5 percent that economists say is the minimum for lowering unemployment, the jobless rate would dip only slightly from 10.1 percent this year to 9.8 percent by the end of 2018.

Turning to the public finances, the central bank expected the government to have little trouble cutting the fiscal deficit to less than three percent of economic output as planned.

(Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Geert De Clercq and Tom Heneghan)