News

Small and medium sized businesses here could record a combined total shortfall in revenue this year of between €10.3bn and €11.7bn, according to a new analysis by the Central Bank of Ireland. However, the bank says the estimates are subject to significant uncertainty because of the current economic and health situation and the inability of […]

Europe’s stock markets have dived more than 1% in early trade after news that US President Donald Trump and his wife have tested positive for Covid-19. The region’s main bourses later clawed back some losses but were still languishing in negative territory, while many investors flocked to the safety of haven currencies. The news compounded uncertainty on […]

The Government has urged commercial landlords to show forbearance to tenants who cannot meet their obligations under their leases because of the financial pressures caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The request came as it published a new voluntary code of conduct on commercial rents that has been agreed between landlords and business representatives. The code […]

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is due to make a statement on Brexit shortly. It will reference the UK’s Internal Market Bill, which breaches the Northern Ireland Protocol. The statement comes as Taoiseach Micheál Martin joins other EU leaders for a two-day summit in Brussels today, which will be dominated by the EU’s […]

The Tokyo Stock Exchange suspended share trading for the full day today as a glitch in its electronic trading system caused the worst outage ever suffered by the world’s third-largest stock market.  The shutdown frustrated investors looking to buy back shares after the first US presidential debate. It could also tarnish the exchange’s credibility just […]

The Department of Finance has significantly revised upwards its outlook for the economy this year.  In a statement published this afternoon, the department has forecast that the economy, as measured by GDP, will shrink by 2.5% this year. But that compares to a forecast by the department in April that projected that GDP would shrink by […]

Britain’s economy shrank by a record 19.8% in the second quarter of 2020 when Covid-19 lockdown measures were in force. This was a slightly smaller decline than an initial estimate of a 20.4% fall in output, official figures showed today.  Output during the three months to the end of June was 21.5% lower than a year […]

Consumer sentiment improved marginally in September, recovering about half of the decline seen in August, a new survey shows today. The KBC Bank Ireland consumer sentiment index increased to 60.7 in September, a 1.8 percentage point gain that followed a 3.7 point drop in August. The September reading remains well above the low-point of 42.6 […]

The Minister for Finance has confirmed that the Government does not plan to make any changes to income tax, USC or PRSI in October’s Budget.  Paschal Donohoe said it is the view of the Government that it needs to hold the personal tax code steady and use it to respond back to the challenges facing […]

The Family Business Network has today called for a reduction in Capital Gains Tax from 33% to 20% to spur investment in indigenous companies in its Budget 2021 submission. In its submission to the Department of Finance, the Family Business Network also recommended the extension of the Commercial Rates waiver until the end of 2021 […]