Category: Syndicated

Construction firms see further sharp rises in activity – Ulster Bank PMI

The construction sector reported another month of rapid growth in August, the latest Ulster Bank Construction Purchasing Managers Index shows, as it continued to benefit from improvements in demand after the reopening of the sector. Ulster Bank noted that the rate of expansion did ease for the third consecutive month in August, but from what […]

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Economy performing ahead of expectations – Varadkar

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise Leo Varadkar said today that the economy is “actually ahead of where we thought we would be”. Mr Varadkar said he still believes it is possible to get the public finances back on a sustainable footing without tax increases and cuts to spending. “I think I am even more convinced […]

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Are consumer prices going to keep on rising?

No sooner had the first Covid-19 vaccine jabs been administered when talk turned to the risk of price inflation accompanying an impending recovery in economies globally from the pandemic. It all started in the US where incoming President Joe Biden was keen to hit the ground running with a series of stimulus programmes amounting to […]

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Irish shoppers increase use of electronic payments

Irish consumers’ use of online and mobile payment methods has continued to increase despite the easing of restrictions on physical retail, according to Banking and Payments Federation Ireland. Meanwhile the move away from cash continued, with contactless payments hitting a new record in July. A new report by BPFI shows that the volume of online […]

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Inflation rate rises to near ten-year high in August – CSO

The annual rate of inflation rose by 2.8% in August, its biggest increase in almost ten years. The latest figures from the Central Statistics Office show higher fuel costs was the primary driver of price increases. Prices have gradually increased over the past ten months, the longest stretch since 2007, according to the CSO. The […]

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ECB trims emergency support, but insists ‘no tapering’

The European Central Bank has today raised its forecast for economic growth in 2021, as the euro zone recovery gathers pace following the easing of many pandemic curbs. The euro zone economy is now expected to grow by 5% this year, up from 4.6% in the last forecast, and by 4.6% in 2022, slightly down […]

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Gender gap in graduates’ pay expectations – survey

Female students have lower salary expectations than their male counterparts across a number of sectors, according to research by Universum, which is part of IrishJobs.ie. The study found that male graduates had higher expectations for their starting salaries in all seven of the sectors surveyed, with some seeing considerably larger gaps than others. There was […]

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Economy to return to pre-Covid levels early next year – NTMA CEO

The chief executive of the National Treasury Management Agency, Conor O’Kelly, has told an audience of investors that the economy is set to return to pre-pandemic levels of activity early next year. Speaking at an event organised by the Irish Strategic Investment Fund, Mr O’Kelly said Ireland’s position coming out of the pandemic crisis “couldn’t […]

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No changes to Budget framework despite better tax receipts – Donohoe

The Minister for Finance has said he is not looking at making any further changes to the framework for October’s budget beyond what was set out in the Summer Economic Statement, despite better than expected tax receipts in recent months. Paschal Donohoe was speaking during a webinar organised by the farm and agribusiness professional services […]

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1 in 5 SMEs expect to pass on higher costs

Over a fifth of SMEs expect to pass higher prices on to their customers as a result of inflationary pressures, according to a survey of SMEs by the peer to peer digital lending platform Linked Finance. That is up from just 6% a year ago. Rising costs are particularly apparent in larger SMEs – defined […]

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