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The Government has been advised to introduce a “significant” stimulus plan for the economy, once the immediate Covid-19 crisis is over. However, the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (IFAC|) has also warned that “all options must be kept on the table”, including spending cuts and tax rises to bring the public finances back in line once…

The State’s largest property owner, Irish Residential Properties REIT, said today that the overall supply of new housing and apartments is expected to be impacted by the ongoing restrictions due to Covid-19. In a statement issued ahead of its AGM today, it said it continued to add to its portfolio with the addition of 73 new apartments…

The number of people receiving the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment has fallen to 579,400 – a drop of 5,200 over the last week.  Of these, 33,400 are receiving their last payment as they are returning to work.   These figures are on top of the 214,700 people receiving Jobseekers’ Benefit at the end of April. …

European countries need to join forces to shield their banks from the coronavirus outbreak, one of the bloc’s top regulators said today, potentially using a 500 billion euro EU recovery fund to do so. The remarks from Jose Manuel Campa, who leads the European Banking Authority (EBA), will rekindle a divisive debate about whether rich…

Consumer and business sentiment rose slightly in May, albeit from a low base according to the latest Pulse survey from Bank of Ireland. Consumer confidence was up marginally in the month, while all sectors of business saw an improvement. That came as improving data on the number of Covid-19 cases in Ireland continued to improve,…

Three quarters of consumers say they now use contactless payments at least once a week, according to a survey for the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland. The survey of 1,000 adults was conducted at the end of April by Coyne Research.  It coincided with the extension of the limit on contactless payments from €30 to…

The Central Statistics Office’s latest Labour Force Survey shows that a total of 2,353,500 people were employed in the first quarter of 2020. This gives an associated employment rate of 69.8% for those aged between 15 and 64 years, the CSO added. But when the effects of the coronavirus are taken into account, the Covid-19 Adjusted…

The National Treasury Management Agency today held an auction of Irish Treasury Bills and sold the target amount of €750m.     The NTMA said that total bids received amounted to €3.71 billion which was nearly five times the amount on offer.  The Treasury Bills, which have a maturity of five months, were sold at…

The European Commission is recommending that Ireland takes all necessary measures to effectively address the Covid-19 pandemic, sustain the economy and support the recovery that follows. It also says the tax base here should be broadened over this year and next. “The challenges facing Ireland in regard to poverty and employment quality and support, including…

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe has said that there is a possibility that Ireland will run a deficit of €30 billion this year. “We expect public debt to increase significantly this year,” the Minister said. Speaking in the Dáil, Paschal Donohoe said the deficit can be financed at low interest rates at the moment but he said sentiment…