Archive for April 2021

Construction activity declined for the third month running in March as most building sites remained shuttered due to Covid-19 restrictions. Activity across all sub-sectors fell sharply, according to Ulster Bank’s monthly measure of activity in the sector, but the pace of decline eased somewhat relative to the extreme weakness registered in January and February. The…

New figures show that consumer prices rose at their fastest monthly pace in two years in March to stand at the same level a year earlier, when the Covid-19 pandemic began to hit Ireland. The Central Statistics Office said the 0.8% monthly rise in March was driven by increased energy, housing and transport costs. The…

Irish house prices rose in line with the EU average of 28.9% over the past decade, according to figures published today by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical agency.  The figures measure price and rent movements from 2010 until the fourth quarter of 2020.   However, rental prices in Ireland rose by 61.8% over the same period.…

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has thrown the weight of the US government behind a push for a global corporate minimum tax rate, possibly carving a path to a long-sought deal updating international tax rules for the first time in a generation.  Yellen said this week that she is working with G20 countries to agree…

Minimum wage employees in Ireland are likely to be suffering disproportionately from job losses as almost half work in sectors worst hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to new research by the Economic and Social Research Institute. The study, entitled ‘A comparative assessment of minimum wage employment in Europe’, also found that being younger, having…

New figures from Banking and Payments Federation Ireland reveal that 1.6 million contactless payments were made every day in February. February saw a total of 46.2 million contactless payment made over the course of the month worth over €733m.  This marked an increase of 6.5% in volume terms on the same time last year and…

Rates on Irish mortgages remain the second highest in the euro area, according to the latest figures from the Central Bank.  In February, the average rate on new mortgage agreements was 2.79%. This compares to the euro area average of 1.27%.  This rate was unchanged compared to the previous month but was 0.12% lower than…

The public finances recorded a deficit of €4.172 billion in March, according to figures published this afternoon by the Department of Finance. This compares to a deficit of €2.535 billion recorded in March 2020. The increase in the deficit is driven by higher current spending in response to the pandemic. The Department of Finance said…

Around a fifth of loans to small and medium enterprises, to which pandemic payment breaks were applied, need further support or are entering arrears. This is according to the Central Bank in its latest SME Market Report. Just under half of loans to which payment breaks were applied have returned to full payment on extended terms…

The European Commission has approved a €60 million scheme to support small and medium-sized Irish businesses impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The ‘Small Business Assistance Scheme for Covid’, will be open to companies in all sectors, except financial institutions and companies operating in the primary production of agricultural products, fisheries or aquaculture sectors. In order…