Archive for December 2019

US disruption of the global economic order has reached a major milestone as the World Trade Organization (WTO) loses its ability to intervene in trade wars. This threatens the future of the Geneva-based body. Two years after starting to block appointments, the US will finally paralyse the WTO’s Appellate Body, which acts as the supreme court…

A study from the Central Bank has found that 34,000 new dwellings will be needed each year for the next decade to keep up with demand.   The demand for housing comes from a natural increase in the population and more people coming to live in the country.  At the peak of the boom in…

Activity in the construction sector declined for the third month in a row, the latest Purchasing Managers’ Index from Ulster Bank shows. Ulster Bank’s Construction PMI showed a reading of 48.2 in November, up from 46.2 in October. Any figure under 50 signals contraction in the industry.  The November slowdown included a decline in activity…

The number of new private cars licensed for the first time rose by 1.8% in November, new figures from the Central Statistics Office show.  The CSO said that a total of 1,676 new private cars were licensed for the first time, up from 1,647 the same month last year. Meanwhile, a total of 9,874 used…

The National Treasury Management Agency said it plans to borrow between €10 billion and €14 billion in 2020, down from a target range of €14-18 billion last year. The NTMA said a pre-funding strategy had given it a projected cash balance in excess of €15 billion. It said this gives it “significant flexibility” entering 2020…

European Union finance ministers today backed plans for greater powers to combat money laundering after a series of revelations about large amounts of dirty money flowing through European banks. The EU last year experienced its largest money-laundering scandal when it emerged that €200 billion in suspicious payments were made between 2007 and 2015 through Danske…

The Minister of State for European Affairs, Helen McEntee, will discuss the imposition of US tariffs on Irish goods at a series of meetings in Washington this week.  She is due to holds talks on Capitol Hill and with the American Chamber of Commerce.  In October it was announced that a range of goods from…

The euro zone economy grew at a modest pace in the third quarter with a negative impact from trade, while retail sales fell at their sharpest rate this year in October, data showed today.  Gross domestic product (GDP) in the euro zone was up 0.2% in the three months from July to September. This was the…

A new survey shows that 88% of Irish food companies expect revenue growth in the year ahead, with 34% of these companies expecting revenue growth of over 10%.  The SME Irish Food Barometer was carried out by PwC and Love Irish Food. It also reveals that while companies are optimistic about the growth prospects for their own…

The unemployment rate held steady at 4.8% in November to remain at the lowest level in almost 13 years, new figures from the Central Statistics Office show.  The CSO said the seasonally adjusted number of people who were unemployed stood at 117,800 in November, up marginally from October.   But when compared to November last…