Archive for November 2021

Consumer and business confidence dropped this month, amid rising Covid cases and Brexit setbacks. That is according to the latest Bank of Ireland Economic Pulse, which has fallen to its lowest reading in eight months. The survey gathers the views of households and businesses on topics such as finances, spending plans, house prices and business…

If you are a customer of Ulster Bank or KBC, you may want to start thinking about what bank you will switch to when they withdraw from the Irish market. While both banks say no action is required at the moment, it is worth being prepared well in advance of the closures. Ulster Bank has…

Economists differ at the moment over whether the pace of price increases that we are seeing is temporary, or ‘transient’ as they like to put it. Some argue that the rate at which prices are going up is being influenced by the reopening of the economy as the pandemic restrictions are lifted and what we…

European stocks sank over 3% this morning as reports of a newly identified and possibly vaccine resistant coronavirus variant stoked fears of a fresh hit to global economy and drove investors out of riskier assets. Cyclical-heavy European stock markets have already been under stress this week as a resurgence in Covid-19 cases prompted new restrictions…

Ireland’s Skills Strategy is to be reviewed as part of a joint project between the state, stakeholders in the skills sector and the OECD. The review, led by the OECD, will focus on how Ireland is equipped to meet current and future skills needs as well as examining how businesses and employees can be supported…

A group of truckers and hauliers are leading convoys from the main motorways around Dublin into the city centre today, protesting for “lower fuel costs at the pump and at home”. The group, describing itself as Irish Truckers Haulage Association Against Fuel Prices, said it is protesting for “lower fuel costs at the pump and…

A spokesperson for the Music and Entertainment Association of Ireland has appealed directly to the Taoiseach to intervene and introduce supports for the industry. On RTÉ’s Drivetime, Matt McGranaghan called for the immediate reinstatement of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment, or an equivalent support, for those in the music industry who were forced off the payments…

The Minister for Finance has published the terms of reference for a “broad-ranging” review into the retail banking sector, which will consider services provided by both banks and non-banks, as the latter becomes more active in the provision of SME credit and mortgage lending. Back in July, Paschal Donohoe said his department would conduct such…

New figures show that debit and credit card fraud losses rose by 9% to reach €24.1m last year with over 275,000 fraudulent debit and credit card transactions. The Banking & Payments Federation Ireland figures show that 96% of the losses was accounted for by online card fraud which rose by 21% to €23.1m. With shopping…

Consumer confidence has dropped to a seven-month low as Covid cases continue to surge, according to the latest KBC Bank Ireland consumer sentiment index. The reading for November declined to 83.1, from 86.8 in October. That is the largest monthly fall since January and brings the sentiment index to its lowest level since April. As…