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The pace of the recovery of the Irish economy from Covid-19 restrictions slowed substantially in August. That’s according to stockbroker Davy which said the situation is indicted by real-time data for the month. In a note to investors, chief economist Conall MacCoille said the Government’s decision to delay the phase four re-opening of the economy…

Eurozone inflation turned negative last month for the first time since May 2016, raising chances that the European Central Bank will have to inject yet more stimulus to generate price growth which has undershot its target for over seven years. Annual inflation in the 19 countries sharing the euro fell to minus 0.2pc in August…

Directors that control more than 15pc of a business can now claim the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS). This follows an update from the Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe. From tomorrow EWSS will replace the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme. The subsidy, which is based on an employees gross weekly wage, can be claimed by directors…

The Government’s new Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme came into effect at midnight, and will continue to provide payroll support until the end of March 2021. It will replace the current Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme, which is underpinning the wages of almost 370,000 employees. The TWSS, which was launched last March, assisted many businesses to survive…

Manufacturing activity kept growing last month but at a slower pace than in July amid weakening demand and resumed job cuts. The monthly purchasing managers’ index (PMI) produced by IHS Markit for AIB found that business conditions for manufacturers “continued to improve in August but the recovery lost momentum”. The headline PMI score declined from…

Economic sentiment fell backwards in August for the first time since the country began to emerge from lockdown and despite the Government’s Stimulus Package announced on July 23. Ireland is an outlier with European Commission data on Friday suggesting economic confidence in the euro area as a whole had continued to improve in August. Here…

State-backed fund Microfinance Ireland has opened its new €15m Covid-19 fund to support small businesses through the current period of uncertainty and to protect jobs that have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic here.  Small businesses can apply for loans up to €25,000 for a three-year term with no repayments and no interest due for…

Irish pension schemes have reduced their equity allocations by almost a third in the past three years as they diversify into fixed income and real assets – property and infrastructure – as new sources of returns. Mercer’s 2020 European Asset allocation insights shows average equity allocations for Irish defined benefit schemes fell to 27% this…

There was a sharp rise in the number of people approved for a mortgage last month compared with the previous month. Close to 3,400 buyers were approved for a home loan, a rise of 51pc on the figures for June. But this was still down 30pc on the number approved for a mortgage in July…

Some financial brokers are still not aware that they need to submit audited accounts to the Central Bank every year. The regulator said there is also a need for greater accuracy in the data submitted to it by some intermediaries. It said it was engaged in follow-up supervisory check-ups with firms where gaps have been…