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The insurance industry has announced a suite of measures aimed at helping personal and business customers through the difficulties posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. They include a reduction in premiums for business customers that will reflect the reduced level of exposure they have as a result of the restrictions as well as flexibility for those…

533,000 people have today been issued payments of the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Support payment – up 26,000 on the figure a week ago, according to the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. Around 54,000 of those are receiving payments for the first time.  These Covid Pandemic payments first introduced on 16 March are in…

The International Monetary Fund is forecasting that Ireland’s economy will decline by 6.8% in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) terms this year, as a result of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The figure is contained in the IMF’s World Economic Outlook, published today. The IMF believes that unemployment in Ireland will average 12.1% this year and 7.9% in 2021.…

The government has announced measures to ensure the delivery of Exchequer-funded capital projects under Project Ireland 2040. The public health measures, introduced at the end of March to halt the progress of Covid-19, imposed restrictions on many areas of the economy including the construction sector.  In a statement this evening, Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe,…

The global coronavirus pandemic is causing an economic crisis unlike any in the past century and will require a massive response to ensure recovery, International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva said today. She warned that “global growth will turn sharply negative in 2020,” with 170 of the International Monetary Fund’s 180 members experiencing a decline…

The Federal Reserve will continue to use all the tools at its disposal until the US economy begins to fully rebound from the harm caused by the novel coronavirus outbreak, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said today, even as he acknowledged the limits of the bank’s powers.  “Many of the programmes we are undertaking to support…

The Covid-19 unemployment payments will cost the Government just under €5bn for three months, according to an analysis by the Economic and Social Research Institute.  The ESRI also warns that the cap on higher earners in the wage subsidy scheme may encourage firms to lay off those employees rather than retaining them.  The Government has introduced…

The Central Bank has said recent actions by the ECB will release upwards of €20bn for Irish banks to borrow and potentially loan out in non-mortgage lending.  In an economic letter published today, the bank also says that actions like the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP) will ensure that governments “can more easily issue debt to…

The number of new users and the volume of online shopping continued to increase over the last week as people became even more confined to home due to the Covid-19 crisis. New data compiled by digital agency Wolfgang Digital found that between March 30 and April 5, internet based sales traffic rose overall by 19% compared to…

EU finance ministers have failed to agree on a bailout plan to help hard hit member states face the coronavirus outbreak, after Italy refused to abandon its plea for “coronabonds” to share the burden. “After 16 hours of discussions, we came close to a deal but we are not there yet. I suspended the Eurogroup…