Government to work with retailers on rising prices – Richmond
Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise Neale Richmond has said that the Government wants to work with retailers to make sure costs people pay are reasonable and realistic based on declining inflation. His comments come ahead of a meeting with the Retail Forum on Wednesday, which will see representatives of the country’s major […]
Lack of understanding of new EU anti-greenwashing rules, research shows
Almost half of Irish companies are concerned about the costs or time involved in meeting new EU rules on greenwashing, new research shows. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), strengthens the rules around the social and environmental information which companies have to report. Under the law, EU companies will have to report in more detail, […]
Oil prices climb as recession fears begin to fade
Oil prices rose today as fears of a recession in the US, which drove prices down for three weeks in a row for the first time since November, started receding. Brent crude futures were up 43 cents, or 0.6%, at $75.73 a barrel in early trade. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up […]
Ireland’s ‘macroeconomic fundamentals’ are strong, says NCPC
The National Competitiveness and Productivity Council has said that overall the country’s “macroeconomic fundamentals” are strong. In its Competitiveness Scorecard report, published every three years, the council found that Ireland scores well on education and skills, but comparatively worse when it comes to transport and housing. Ireland has the second highest share of workers with […]
ECB raises rates by 0.25% and signals ‘not pausing’
The European Central Bank raised interest rates by 25 basis points to 3.25% as expected today and signalled that more tightening would be needed to tame inflation. The central bank for the 20 countries that share the euro has lifted rates by a combined 375 basis points since last July, its fastest pace of tightening. […]
Unemployment falls to match previous record low of 3.9% – CSO
New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the country’s unemployment rate fell to 3.9% in April from a revised 4% a month earlier to match the previous record low of the early 2000s. The jobless rate had remained between 4.2% and 4.5% over the last year, according to recent CSO figures. But the […]
ECB expected to increase interest rates for 7th time
The Governing Council of the European Central Bank meets in Frankfurt today where it is widely expected to increase interest rates for the seventh time since it began raising rates last summer. The ECB’s base deposit rate is currently 3%. Market analysts are divided over whether the bank will increase rates today by another half […]
Irish services activity expands rapidly in April
The latest AIB Services Business Activity Index grew from 55.7 to 58.4 during the month, well above the 50 threshold separating growth from contraction. It was the twenty-sixth consecutive month of expansion and the most pronounced in 11 months. “It points to a robust rate of growth in services activity,” said Oliver Mangan, Chief Economist […]
Weekly wages down €76 due to inflation – Unite
There has been a €76 drop in real weekly wages over the past two years due to rising inflation, according to new research from the Unite trade union. It shows that the real median wage in Ireland, adjusted for the impact of inflation, has fallen from €976 per week to €900 per week, since the […]
Irish Residential Properties REIT’s Q1 revenue up 4.9%
The country’s largest private residential landlord, Irish Residential Properties REIT, saw its revenue increase by 4.9% in the first three months of the year, driven by additions to its portfolio and stable rent collections. In a trading update for the three months to the end of March, it said that occupancy levels at its properties […]
Fear of losing money the biggest barrier to investing
Fear of losing money is the biggest barrier to people investing (67%), according to a survey by Bank of Ireland which also revealed low levels of investment knowledge. Other respondents were afraid of having their money tied up for years (36%), while 34% felt they didn’t have enough money to invest. Bernard Walsh, Head of […]
Number of homes provided by approved housing bodies grew by 10% – report
The number of homes provided by approved housing bodies grew by 10% last year, according to the latest report from the Irish Council for Social Housing. It amounts to almost 5,000 new social and cost rental homes – surpassing its target of 40% of total social housing delivery. The Government did, however, miss its own […]
Weak demand hits production in manufacturing sector
The downturn across Ireland’s manufacturing sector deepened at the start of the second quarter of the year amid a sharper contraction in factory production and a sustained decline in new orders. According to the AIB Irish Manufacturing PMI for April, with the headline index falling to 48.6 from 49.7 in March and 51.3 in February. […]
Organisations wanted for four-day working week trial
Recruitment for a new four-day working week pilot programme has been launched today to coincide with International Workers’ Day. Companies and organisations of all sizes from every sector are encouraged to join the trial which will be based on the ‘100-80-100 model’ where workers get 100% of their pay, for 80% of the time, in […]
18% drop in corporate property investment in first quarter
Corporate property investment fell by 18% in the first quarter, as foreign investors paused their activity, new research has claimed. In total, €625m was invested in the Irish market during the initial three months of the year, with US investor interest in the market here easing. They injected €14.75m during between January and March, according […]
Q1 GDP fell 2.7% on a quarterly basis, preliminary estimate shows
The country’s gross domestic product fell by 2.7% on a quarterly basis in the first quarter of 2023 but stood 6.4% higher than a year ago, a preliminary estimate reading from the Central Statistics Office shows today. The Government has long cautioned against using GDP to accurately measure economic growth as it is routinely inflated […]
IMF urges European central banks to kill inflation ‘beast’ with rate hikes
The International Monetary Fund has today urged European central banks to “kill the beast” of inflation by pursuing interest rate hikes. “You need to go and kill that beast” the IMF’s European department director Alfred Kammer told reporters in Stockholm. He said “history is littered” with examples of policymakers who pause rate hikes only to […]
New mortgage drawdowns fell by a third in first quarter – BPFI
The volume and value of new mortgages drawn down in the first three months of this year fell by around a third, compared to the final three months of last year. According to new data from the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland, 10,908 new home loans worth €2.87 billion were issued by lenders. The BPFI […]