Uncategorized

The National Treasury Manangement Agency said today it plans to hold two bond auctions in the third quarter of this year. The NTMA said it will hold bond auctions on July 9 and September 10. The agency is also planning three Treasury Bill sales and these are pencilled in for July 16, August 20 and…

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has warned businesses that despite economic challenges, they must act independently in their commercial decisions, especially when setting prices and charges.  The warning comes on the back of engagement between the CCPC and a number of trade associations after they made public statements about new potential charges and price increases,…

The Dáil has agreed to spend at least another €2.5 billion on health and business supports due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly confirmed that an additional €2bn was required to pay for health services this year, bringing the department’s revised spending estimate for 2020 to almost €20bn. The estimate has increased by upwards of…

The country’s unemployment rate, including those receiving temporary Covid-19 jobless benefit, fell to 22.5% at the end of June from 26.1% a month earlier, new figures from the Central Statistics Office show. Today’s monthly unemployment figures reflect the first two stages of the economy’s gradual re-opening.  The unemployment rate, which stood at just 4.8% before…

Hairdressers, barbers, spas, chiropractors and dentists were among the big beneficiaries of the Phase 3 reopening of the economy yesterday, according to transaction data from Revolut. Pubs and restaurants also got a boost from the restart of business, although to a lesser extent than the other big winners. Excluding online shopping, overall spending yesterday by…

The manufacturing sector returned to growth in June after recovering almost all of the sudden deterioration seen following the coronavirus-related shutdown of most of the economy in March, a survey showed today.  The economy here has opened more gradually than much of Europe with large parts of the services sector including hotels, restaurants, hairdressers and…

The number of new mortgage approvals in May was nearly 62% lower than the same month last year. According to the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland, the decrease was not unexpected given the scale of the lockdown and physical restrictions due to Covid-19. In total 1,879 new mortgages were approved by lenders here in May…

A large number of full-time workers in receipt of the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme or Pandemic Unemployment Payment face tax bills of between €150 and €2,828 by the end of the year, Taxback.com has warned. The latest Taxback.com Taxpayer Sentiment Survey revealed that 57% of respondents receiving either payment are not aware that a future…

Lending to euro zone companies continued to surge in May as firms relied heavily on bank credit to stay afloat amid the continent’s coronavirus-related lockdown, data from the European Central Bank showed today.  With millions of people in stuck at home and much of the bloc’s economy mothballed, activity came to a standstill in March…

Growth in the Irish economy averaged 5.2% per annum from 2013 to 2018, according to an analysis of new CSO data. In a Special Article for the ESRI, Professor John Fitzgerald describes a measure, called Net National Product, as the best picture of the “economic welfare of those living in Ireland”. For years, the traditional measure of…