Tesco's expansion plans for the Irish Republic won't be affected by the country's once-booming Celtic Tiger economy slowing down, according to chief executive Sir Terry Leahy.
This year, he said, six new supermarkets and four Express outlets would be opened, increasing the company's Irish supermarket network to more than 100.
Even with an economic slowdown, Sir Terry believed Tesco should open further stores "because there's a lot of catch-up in the physical infrastructure", he told The Irish Times.
"The economy has doubled in size in a short time so there's a new wealth and, to some extent, money to spend and nowhere to spend it," he said.
Tesco's sales in the Republic rose 9.7% to €2.7bn last year and analysts expect them to hit €3bn in the current fiscal year.
Sir Terry was in Dublin last weekend to receive the Sean Lemass Gold Medal for Business Leadership from Trinity College and the Irish Management Institute.
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