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Euro zone consumer inflation sharply decelerated in May, the European Union’s statistics office confirmed today, with the core price growth measure, watched closely by the central bank, also slowing. Eurostat confirmed its earlier estimates that consumer inflation in the 20 countries did not change at all month-on-month in May resulting in a 6.1% rise year-on-year,…

The European Central Bank needs to keep raising interest rates, policymakers said today, reaffirming the bank’s stance after fresh projections showed that inflation is even more stubborn than feared. The ECB raised interest rates to 22-year high of 3.50% on Thursday and said it would move again in July, continuing what has been the fastest…

Oil prices were set to snap a two-week losing streak today amid optimism about higher energy demand from top crude importer China and a weaker dollar. Brent futures rose 20 cents (0.3%) to $75.87 a barrel by 0632 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was 16 cents (0.2%) higher, at $70.78 a barrel.…

The Governing Council of the European Central Bank is meeting in Frankfurt today where it’s widely expected to increase interest rates by another quarter of one percent. This would bring the ECB’s base deposit rate to 3.5%. Various members of the ECB’s Governing Council have made clear in recent weeks that interest rates will go…

A decline in the numbers of people looking to switch mortgage provider or move home led to a decline in mortgage approvals in April, according to Banking and Payments Federation Ireland. There were a total of 3,899 mortgages approved in the month, down 13.7% on a monthly basis and 9.4% lower year-on-year. First time buyers…

AIB and EBS have increased their interest rates on a number of deposit accounts to 2%. The 2% rate will apply to its regular online saver, its AIB Junior and Student saver and the EBS Family saver accounts. But it will only apply to the first €1,000 per month for 12 months. After this period,…

Residential property prices nationally rose in April by 3.6% on an annual basis, according to the CSO. This compares to an annual rate of 4% in March. Prices nationally were static over the course of April. Prices have been falling slowly in Dublin since October. They are down 2% over the past three months but…

Oil rebounded today after the previous day’s plunge, as data showed a jump in refinery runs at the world’s top crude importer China, though a weak economic backdrop capped gains. Brent crude futures rose 39 cents, or 0.6%, to $73.59 a barrel by 0630 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude climbed 39 cents, or…

The US Federal Reserve is expected to leave interest rates unchanged today for the first time since the US central bank kicked off a historically aggressive round of monetary policy tightening in March last year. Many analysts and investors are calling it ‘a skip’ as they expect the Fed will skip a hike this time.…

Returns to farmers for their produce have fallen overall from March to April this year, according to the latest figures from the CSO. Output prices for produce fell 2.2%, heralding a general decline in returns to most farmers. Dairy farmers in particular experienced a price fall 8.6% in the month, as processors have pulled back…