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The Government has reduced its stake in Bank of Ireland by a percentage point. In a statement to the stock exchange, Bank of Ireland said the percentage of its voting rights owned by the Government through the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) has decreased from 12.98% to 11.97%. The percentage of voting rights in the…

Euro zone economic sentiment eased more than expected in August from a record high in July, hit by a sharp drop in optimism in France and the Netherlands, while selling price expectations peaked. The European Commission’s economic sentiment index, released today, eased to 117.5 in August from an all-time high of 119 in July. Optimism…

Bank of Ireland’s latest Economic Pulse shows that consumer confidence rose in August but business sentiment slipped. Bank of Ireland said the Consumer Pulse was in catch-up mode and moved higher as households upgraded their assessment of both the general economic and their own financial situations. But the Business Pulse slipped this month as Bank…

When the history of Ireland’s handling of the pandemic is written in years to come, the economic impact and the response of the Government to it will be a key focus. And central to that analysis will be the role played by, and the effectiveness of, the Pandemic Unemployment Payment or PUP. Introduced almost overnight…

People are adopting a more conservative approach to using savings build up during the Covid-19 pandemic than anticipated, new research from Permanent TSB Bank and research company Kantar shows. Leontia Fannin, Head of Corporate Affairs at Permanent TSB, said today’s findings could signal a lower-than-expected post Covid “bounce” in the economy. “There has been an…

Issues relating to faulty goods and services topped the list of queries to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission in the first six months of this year. There was a steep rise in the number of queries relating to audio-visual and electronic goods and a corresponding fall in travel-related queries. The Consumer Contacts Report details…

Just over 53,500 mortgages to the value of almost €13.2 billion were approved in Ireland in the 12 months to the end of July, according to Banking and Payments Federation Ireland. That represented an increase in approval volumes of just over 3% compared to the 12 months to the end of June, while the value…

Around three in ten workers surveyed by recruitment website Indeed said they were open to new employment opportunities but are not actively looking. The survey showed that 7% of workers said they were urgently looking for a new post while around half said they were not searching for a new role. Indeed said this suggests…

The vacancy rate in commercial properties around Ireland remained relatively steady in the second quarter of 2021. According to the latest GeoView Commercial Vacancy Rates Report from EY for GeoDirectory, out of a total commercial property stock of 211,739 units in Ireland, 28,831 were classified as vacant in June this year. This resulted in a…

Irish consumer sentiment improved marginally in August while confidence dipped in the US, UK and euro area. The latest consumer sentiment index from KBC Bank Ireland increased to 86.5 in August from 84.9 in July. That saw the sentiment index largely – but not entirely – reversing July’s drop from the two-year high of 87.2…