News

The country’s main banks have stopped using a State fund set up to channel low cost finance to SMEs, because lenders can access cheap money in their own right, the Irish Independent has learned. The Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) was set up to ensure favourable loan rates reached SMEs, by funnelling State-sourced money […]

Spend on digital advertising has overtaken that of television in the United States for the first time. Last year, internet advertising revenues in the United States hit $88bn (€77bn), an increase of 21pc on the previous year, according to the latest ‘Internet Advertising Revenue’ report from professional services firm PwC and the Interactive Advertising Bureau […]

China’s state planner pledged on Wednesday to keep debt levels under control even as Beijing rolls out fresh stimulus to support the stumbling economy as a trade war with the US deepens. The comments by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) came a day after China reported surprisingly weak data that showed investment growth […]

Parents of the 120,000 students who get their Leaving Cert results this Wednesday are facing a bill of as much as €12,800 to put their child through their first year in college. It currently costs €12,828 a year to put a child through college – if he or she is living away from home and […]

Brexit negotiations between the UK and the EU are due to reconvene on Thursday in Brussels. The European Union is signalling that it wants to make September a decisive month in the divorce negotiations, while British Prime Minister Theresa May is more in favour of a late-autumn deadline. The talks are expected to continue on […]

Ireland’s construction sector is now growing so fast that shortages of some building materials and services are being reported. That’s led to higher prices for steel, insulation and transport. The latest Ulster Bank Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which tracks the country’s building activity, rose to 60.7 in July from 58.4 in June. Any reading […]

Householders face paying an extra €300 this winter for oil to fuel their heating systems. A surge in the cost of home heating oil and the price of petrol and diesel have pushed up the inflation rate to its highest level in more than a year. The cost of filling an oil tank has gone […]

Doubts about Elon Musk’s ability to take Tesla private mounted across Wall Street yesterday, wiping out the gains reaped from his initial tweet floating the idea. The stock plunged as much as 4.6pc to $353.33, below where it was trading two days ago and well off the $420 at which Mr Musk said shareholders would […]

Targets to limit immigration should be scrapped after Brexit, UK business lobby group the CBI has recommended. Businesses need a new immigration policy, avoiding visas for EU citizens and putting migration on the table for trade talks, according to its new report ‘Open And Controlled – A New Approach To Migration’. Evidence from 129,000 firms […]