Archive for April 2023

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…

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…

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…

Job vacancies fell 20% in the first three months of the year when compared to the same period in 2022, according to hiring platform IrishJobs. In comparison to the last three months of last year, the number of job ads was down 6%. Despite the apparent softening of the market though, the number of vacancies…

Venture capital investment into Irish firms plummeted 57% between January and March, compared to the same period last year. Irish businesses raised $172.8m during the period through 24 deals, down from the 25 worth $401m in the first three months of last year. Rising interest rates, high inflation, worries about the banking system and the…

Consumer sentiment has improved significantly this month as negativity about the economy and household finances subsided, new data has found.The Credit Union Consumer Sentiment Index rose to its best level in 13 months, reversing the 1.7-point decline seen between February and March.Author of the commentary, economist Austin Hughes, said the rise means a clear if…

Revenue has today published its annual report for 2022, which it said reflected a year of strong performance with a record amount of tax and duty collected during the year. The 2022 publication is Revenue’s 100th annual report. Revenue collected total gross receipts of almost €118 billion last year, including €22 billion in non-Exchequer receipts…

Income tax receipts in Ireland rose by more over the two year period up to 2022 than they did over the seven year period up to 2019, new data from Revenue shows. Total income tax receipts between 2020 and 2022 came in at €8.1 billion, compared to €7.8 billion between 2012 and 2019. While receipts…

An analysis by Revenue of corporation tax returns last year has revealed that the proportion paid by just ten multinationals rose to 57%. Last year the amount of corporation tax collected by the State rose by 48% to €22.7 billion. This year, it is forecast to rise again to over €24 billion. Last year the…

The Minister for Finance has taken part in AIB Group’s 2023 share buyback programme on a directed basis, which will further reduce the State’s shareholding in the bank. The buyback will see AIB purchase €215m of its shares from the State by way of an off-market purchase. This represents 54,674,818 shares or 2.05% of the…