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The recovery is under threat from an over-reliance on the public sector, the ongoing affects of the property crash and the spectre of the Nama debt book. This can only be tackled with strong political leadership and a culture of entrepreneurship
Northern Ireland still has a number of major obstacles to overcome before it can be seen as 'in recovery' territory.
We have suffered from the long-term structural issues surrounding a dependency on the public sector and have seen the severe impact from the collapse of the property market. It is not all bad news though as many of our homegrown local businesses are trading well.
However, the economic situation generally will take years to fully recover and become robust once more. Reliance on the public sector has its problems and the economic downturn has seen the squeeze put on government spending, from which we are not immune.
Indeed, many economists have argued that this reliance makes Northern Ireland quite vulnerable now that the peace process has removed our "special status". Westminster has to balance the books and reduce the deficit and we must expect to see further cuts in the forthcoming years.
The reliance on the public sector needs to be redressed and the moves to cut corporation tax locally must be seen as a special case. Nurturing and developing private business and enterprise is the only way for the local economy to stand on its own two feet.
The collapse in the property market here also has some way to run.
That coupled with the Nama book of debt and the inevitable release of more cheap property onto the market will keep property in the doldrums for several more years.
Economies can rebound quickly, but this is still a worldwide problem that won't be solved overnight.
What is needed most is decisive leadership from the politicians to build an entrepreneurial-based culture with low and attractive corporate tax rates.
Ralph McGuicken is a senior consultant with GFP Wealth Management in east Belfast
