Business News

The European Central Bank pushed out the timing of its first post-crisis rate hike until 2020 at the earliest and offered banks new rounds of multi-year loans in a bid to revive the currency bloc’s slowing economy, it said on Thursday. The bolder-than-expected move showed ECB was having to revisit plans to dial back its […]

More women are holding senior management roles in Ireland but, while gender balance at the top level is still a way off, the strategy to address the issue must not be rushed according to the head of Grant Thornton in Ireland. Grant Thornton International’s latest Women in Business report ranks Ireland eighth out of 35 […]

The number of mortgages approved by banks here fell by 3.4% in the year to the end of January, new figures show. The drop came despite a modest monthly increase in the volume of home loans given the green light during the first month of the year. In total, the Banking and Payment Federation Ireland […]

An organisation representing those involved in sales of duty free here has warned Government changes to draft laws designed to prepare the country for a no-deal Brexit will prevent the sale of such products at Irish airports. Expressing its concern about the amendments to the bill, the Irish Duty Free Alliance (IDFA) said the changes […]

A SURGE in the supply of corporate debt in the riskiest investment-grade category may leave markets vulnerable to a rout if economic weakness triggers bouts of rating downgrades, according to the Bank for International Settlements. The BIS is the central bankers’ central bank and provides policy advice as well as acting as a forum for […]

The Exchequer surplus for February came in lower than expected at €139m, according to Department of Finance data issued yesterday. That compares with €217m a year ago and a forecast of a rise in the surplus to €325m by Cantor Fitzgerald. The Department of Finance said that there was an increase in non-voted current spending, […]

New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the rate of unemployment fell to 5.6% in February, from the revised rate of 5.7% in January. Unemployment had stood at 5.8% in February 2018. The CSO said the seasonally adjusted number of people who were unemployed stood at 135,100 in February, down from 136,800 in […]

The European Central Bank (ECB) will hold an interest rate-setting meeting on Thursday when it will likely seek to reassure financial markets while not adding to panic setting in around Europe’s sluggish economic performance. Germany, France and Italy are now all flatlining economically, creating concerns that the eurozone economy may be headed for recession and […]

A new law to protect workers in casual and precarious employment comes into effect today, aimed at improving the security and predictability of working hours. A “band of hours” system is being introduced where an employee’s contract does not reflect actual hours worked. Under the legislation, a worker is now entitled to be placed on […]

Exchequer returns for February show a shortfall in Income Tax and VAT receipts, but these are largely offset by a bigger than expected payments of Corporation Tax. In February, €1.6 billion in income tax was collected, which was €156 million lower than expected. The Department of Finance says this is mainly due to some late […]