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Wed 11 Nov 2002IBEC wants urgent action to arrest fall in competitivenessThe Republic will become the most expensive economy in the EU by 2004 if pay growth is not stemmed immediately, employers' group IBEC warned yesterday.The body has called for urgent action to be taken to address the Republic's competitiveness. The warning comes as a new study shows the Republic's economic competitiveness to have declined dramatically over the past year.