Archive for September 2020

More than a third of Irish businesses are looking to reduce their office space in the wake of the Covid pandemic. A survey of 325 executives by the Institute of Directors in Ireland (IoD) offers fresh evidence that commercial office owners face rising vacancies and falling demand as more companies expect more staff to work from…

Sterling extended its losses against the dollar and euro today, and is having its worst month in four years. This is due to new coronavirus lockdown measures, the looming risk of a no-deal Brexit and as talk of negative rates weigh on the currency.  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered restaurants and bars to close…

The Irish Road Haulage Association is warning trade will be “severely upset” because of Brexit and the price of some goods could double in price. President of the Irish Road Haulage Association Eugene Drennan said there could be a delay in delivering some goods and scarcity of products, which would not be acceptable. He told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland…

Construction activity plunged again last month following an earlier post-lockdown increase, as the economic impact of the pandemic weighs on the sector. The Ulster Bank Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) published this morning notched up a reading of 44 in August, compared to 53.2 in July. Any figure below 50 signals contraction. And worryingly for…

Proposals to tax the digital economy being brought to the G20 next month are more likely to favour large economies over small, open economies like Ireland, according to the OECD’s director of tax policy. In a webinar for the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA) yesterday, Pascal Saint-Amans, director of the OECD’s Centre for…

The Living Wage rate is to remain unchanged at €12.30 per hour for the coming year, following fresh calculations. The change to the rate is determined by the fluctuation of living costs and taxation. It is calculated by the Living Wage Technical Group (LWTG), which is made up of researchers and academics from St Vincent…

Deutsche Bank plans to close one in five branches in its home market in Germany as it seeks to save costs and capitalise on the changing habits of customers during the coronavirus pandemic, an executive said.  Philipp Gossow, who oversees the retail banking business in Germany, told Reuters that the reduction to some 400 branches…

Europe’s economic rebound is uncertain and uneven, requiring “very careful” assessment of incoming data, including the evolution of the coronavirus pandemic, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said today.  “The uncertainty of the current environment requires a very careful assessment of the incoming information, including developments in the exchange rate,” Lagarde said in a speech…

The number of people claiming the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) has fallen by just 3,600 in the last week. In total, 206,341 people received the PUP today, with €61.3m due to be paid to them tomorrow. However, today’s numbers do not take account of the decision to impose more severe restrictions on Dublin last Friday.…

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has undercut the main justification for US President Donald Trump’s trade war against China, saying that American tariffs on Chinese goods violate international rules. A panel of three WTO trade experts yesterday said the US broke global regulations when it imposed tariffs on Chinese goods in 2018. Washington has imposed levies…