Archive for January 2023

A total of 75 so-called “ghost estates” still exist across Ireland more than 15 years after the Celtic Tiger economic and property crash. New figures obtained by RTÉ show that despite the issue falling off the public and political agenda in recent years, it continues to be a daily problem for hundreds of people living…

Irish consumer confidence hit a seven month high in January, according to the latest Credit Union Consumer Sentiment index. The data suggests that consumers had a less negative view of the economic and financial circumstances of households heading into 2023. The index reached 55.2, up from 48.7 in December, and its strongest level since last…

Europe’s main stock markets were little changed at the open today, failing to mirror strong overnight gains in Tokyo and on Wall Street. Stock markets have notched up some decent gains in recent weeks as the economic outlook appears to have improved dramatically on the back of China’s economic reopening after strict Covid-19 lockdowns and…

Visitor numbers are still down a third on the pre-Covid peak of 1.02 million Irish whiskey distilleries around the island of Ireland attracted 677,000 visitors last year, an increase of 425% on 2021. New figures from the Irish Whiskey Association show that visitor numbers are still down a third on the pre-Covid peak of 1.02…

Euro zone business activity made a surprise return to modest growth in January, adding to signs the downturn in the bloc may not be as deep as feared and that the currency union may escape recession, a survey showed. S&P Global’s flash Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), seen as a good gauge of overall economic…

Nobody needs reminding that we’re in the midst of a cost-of-living crunch. With the price of pretty much everything rising, we’re looking for ways to make savings wherever we can, from the weekly shop to the utilities and, perhaps especially, financial products. One area where householders might be tempted to cut corners is on their…

Hairdressers have become the latest group to appeal to the Government to retain the 9% VAT rate, which is due to expire at the end of February. But the sector has gone a step further, by appealing for the rate to be cut further to 5% in order to preserve jobs. ”A failure to support…

New data from Revenue shows more than 370,000 tax returns have been processed for PAYE taxpayers who have filed their returns for last year. This represents a 30% increase on the same period last year. Around three quarters of those, some 275,000, resulted in an overpayment of tax. This has led to €193m in total…

The euro scaled a nine-month high on the dollar today as more hawkish comments on European interest rates contrasted with market pricing for a less aggressive Federal Reserve. The euro reached as far as $1.0903, breaking the recent peak of $1.08875 and opening the way to a spike top from last April at $1.0936. It…

365 jobs have so far been secured as a result of 16 small businesses availing of the expedited restructuring process for viable small firms which need to be rescued financially, according to an analysis by the business advisory firm, Baker Tilly. The Small Company Administrative Rescue Process – known as SCARP – came into operation…