Record employment at Enterprise Ireland-supported companies in 2023
Enterprise Ireland has announced that net employment at its client firms grew by just over 5,000 last year to a record 225,500 in what was a “very challenging year for businesses”. The government agency supports Irish businesses, from start-ups to multinationals, to grow and scale and compete in global markets. 15,530 new jobs were created […]
Cyberattacks top concern for businesses in Ireland
Cyberattacks and data breaches are the top risks for Irish business, according to a new study. Aon’s Global Risk Management Survey gathered insights from 2,842 respondents across 61 countries, including Ireland, to identify their most-pressing business challenges. The study found that 94% of firms in Ireland have a formal plan or are reviewing processes to […]
Buoyant labour market boosts property prices
Ireland’s buoyant labour market had a significant effect on the housing market, reducing the negative impact of high interest rates on property prices last year. Asking prices for properties nationally rose by over 4% through 2023, in Dublin and outside the capital. The Myhome.ie report, which was done with the Bank of Ireland, said much […]
Euro zone inflation rises to 2.9%, cooling case for ECB rate cuts
Euro zone inflation surged in December and could still go higher in the early part of 2024, easing financial markets pressure on the European Central Bank to start cutting interest rates from record highs. Inflation across the 20-nation bloc jumped to 2.9% in December from 2.4% in November, just shy of expectations for a 3% […]
Exchequer surplus falls to €1.2 billion in 2023 from €5 billion in 2022
The Exchequer recorded a surplus of €1.2 billion in 2023, according to figures released by the Department of Finance. This compares with a surplus of €5 billion in 2022, with the decline driven by factors including increased public expenditure and the transfer of €4 billion to the National Reserve Fund (NRF) in February last year. […]
Annual inflation rate climbs to 3.2% in December – flash data
The annual rate of inflation rose in December to 3.2%, the latest “flash estimate” from the Central Statistics Office shows. After falling from over 3.5% to 2.5% in November, a slight increase in the rate was not unexpected. The sharp fall in inflation in November was mirrored across the euro zone and gave rise to […]
Euro zone business activity shrank again in December, pointing to recession
The contraction in euro zone business activity continued at the end of 2023 due to a persistent downturn in the dominant services industry, a survey showed today, indicating the bloc’s economy was in recession. HCOB’s Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), compiled by S&P Global and seen as a good gauge of overall economic health, was […]
ECB’s cyber stress test will not affect capital requirements
The European Central Bank’s cyber resilience stress test in the coming months will not affect bank-specific capital requirements but instead form part of a broader supervisory assessment, the ECB said in a statement today. The long-planned stress test, which will involve 109 of the bloc’s biggest lenders, will assume a successful cyberattack that disrupts daily […]
US interest rates likely to stay high ‘for some time’
US Federal Reserve officials expect interest rates will need to remain high “for some time” to tackle stubborn inflation, according to minutes of the most recent rate decision published last night. The Fed announced last month that it would continue to hold interest rates at a 22-year high, and penciled in up to three rate […]
Service sector expansion sustained in December
Irish firms continued to report rising levels of new business, but the pace of growth slowed in December to the second weakest in 2023. The AIB Irish Services PMI for December showed a continued expansion in business activity in the sector, but as has been the case for most of the year, the pace of […]
Up to €1,800 in refunds available to taxpayers
Taxpayers could be leaving up to €1,800 on the table by not availing of a range of yearly tax refunds, a consumer tax specialist has warned. Marian Ryan of taxback.com is reminding consumers that money is there to be claimed but the vast majority are missing out on the returns. Taxpayers – including PAYE workers […]
Slight dip in manufacturing activity in December
There was a slight deterioration in business conditions in the manufacturing sector in December, the latest AIB Purchasing Managers Index showed. The headline index – which is measured on a scale of 1 to 100 – fell to 48.9 in the month from the 50 breakeven point in November. The outcome – while signalling a […]
House price growth slowed in 2023 as supply dwindled
The rate of growth in prices being sought for properties listed on the market slowed in 2023, despite a significant drop in supply, according to the website, Daft.ie. Its latest analysis captured growth in listed prices of 3.4% in the year – almost half the 6% growth rate in 2022 and well below the increases […]
House price growth slowed in 2023 as supply dwindled
The rate of growth in prices being sought for properties listed on the market slowed in 2023, despite a significant drop in supply, according to the website, Daft.ie. Its latest analysis captured growth in listed prices of 3.4% in the year – almost half the 6% growth rate in 2022 and well below the increases […]
Corporation tax rate increasing to 15% for some large firms
Hundreds of companies here will be liable to pay 15% corporation tax, as the biggest shake-up in the State’s corporate tax system in three decades is implemented. It follows the introduction of the new minimum effective rate of tax for big multinationals under the terms of an agreement struck by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation […]
Oil prices jump 1.5% in first session of New Year
Oil prices jumped 1.5% in the first session of the New Year, due to potential supply disruptions in the Middle East after a naval clash in the Red Sea, and hopes of strong holiday demand and an economic stimulus in China, the top crude importer. Brent crude rose $1.20, or 1.5%, to $78.24 a barrel […]
Consumer sentiment improves but anxiety remains
Consumer sentiment improved slightly in December and was significantly higher year-on-year, according to the latest report by the Irish League of Credit Unions. The latest survey had a reading of 62.4, compared to 61.9 in November and 48.7 in December 2022. It represents a continuation of the broadly upward trend in consumer sentiment that began […]
NAMA transfers another €350m to Exchequer
The National Asset Management Agency has today completed a €350m cash transfer to the Exchequer as it approaches its orderly wind down. Today’s transfer brings the total cash paid to the Exchequer from NAMA’s surplus to €3.85 billion. NAMA has also made corporation tax payments of more than €400m so far. NAMA was set up […]