Archive for May 2020

The coronavirus-hit euro zone economy probably will not return to its pre-pandemic levels until next year at the earliest, the European Central Bank’s chief economist said today. But Philip Lane said that the ECB was prepared to tweak its tools if needed.   “From today’s perspective, it looks in any case unlikely that economic activity…

France and Germany have agreed to propose creating a €500 billion Recovery Fund that would offer grants to European member states and regions hit hardest by the coronavirus crisis. In what French President Emmanuel Macron said was a “major step forward”, the two countries said they were also proposing to allow the European Commission to…

European passenger car sales slumped in April as the first full month with restrictions imposed to contain the coronavirus pandemic across the continent dragged sales to a record drop, data showed today.  In April, new car registrations dropped by 78.3% to 292,182 vehicles in the European Union, Britain and the European Free Trade Association countries. This…

Dublin-based legal firm McCann Fitzgerald last year received €1.54m in legal fees from the National Asset Management Agency. That is according to new figures provided by the Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe in a written Dáil reply to Solidarity-People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett. In the figures provided by Mr Donohoe, NAMA last year…

31% of consumers are more likely to continue shopping online for clothes, toys and electronic goods after Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted, a survey conducted by Banking & Payment Federation Ireland shows. But one in five of those consumers who have shopped online for groceries, hardware and DIY or newspapers and magazines are less likely…

The Chief Executive of Retail Excellence Ireland has called for increased government support for the sector, as up to 1,800 shops look to reopen next Monday. Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, David Fitzsimons said that only 70% of staff are expected to return to work in the coming months, with his organisation predicting job losses…

Irish banks expect the “biggest ever decrease” in the demand for mortgages and consumer loans as a result of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.  That is one of the results from analysis of the quarterly Bank Lending Survey published by the Central Bank today.  The Central Bank said the fall in demand will be…

New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that residential property prices increased by 1% nationally in the year to March.  The CSO said this compares with an increase of 1% in the year to February and an increase of 3.8% the same time last year. Today’s figures lag a coronavirus-related collapse in housing transactions.…

In a sober review of where the US economy stands on the cusp of its reopening, US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell has warned of an “extended period” of weak growth and stagnant incomes, pledged to use more of the central bank’s power as needed, and issued a call for additional fiscal spending. “It will take…

There was a dramatic increase in traffic for online retailers compared to pre-Covid levels in the last week, as stores remained shut and consumers enjoyed some retail therapy online. New data compiled by digital agency Wolfgang Digital found that between May 4 and 10, internet traffic rose by 60%, and online revenues were up 162%.…