The Central Bank’s Director of Consumer Protection has said he thinks banks here “are not yet where they need to be” in preparing for Ulster Bank and KBC’s exit from the Irish market. Colm Kincaid also said the Central Bank has an “appetite to intervene” where it considers necessary to do so if it is…
Tag Archives: Economic welfare
The annual rate of inflation rose to 5.6% in February, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office. This is the highest annual rate in almost 21 years. Today’s CSO figures show that the main contributor to inflation remains fuel and energy. Unfortunately, inflation is almost certain to climb higher because February’s figures…
The European Central Bank has scaled back its bond-buying stimulus plan in response to inflation being driven up by the war in Ukraine, while giving itself more flexibility on the timing of a potential interest rate rise this year. “The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a watershed for Europe,” the ECB said in a statement…
It is expected that a proposal will go before the Dáil today that will cut fuel costs through a reduction in excise duties. The changes would then take effect from midnight if, as expected, the Dáil passes the financial resolution. Work was ongoing at the Department of Finance late last night on proposals to decrease…
The battered euro took a breather today ahead of this week’s European Central Bank meeting, while commodity currencies eased from recent peaks as investors reckoned war-driven surges in energy, grains and metals could crimp long-term demand. The euro hovered around $1.0913 in Asian trade, a modest recovery from Monday’s 22-month low of $1.0806. The euro…
Two new statutory codes of practice have been launched to help eliminate pay inequality and tackle workplace harassment and sexual harassment. The measures were developed by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. The new codes of practice, published in the week of International Women’s Day, set out the procedures and steps to ensure that…
Higher security standards for certain card payments have come into effect. The changes are part of the ongoing rollout of Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) and relate to recurring card payments such as subscriptions where the cardholder’s details are retained for future use. From today, service providers and online retailers must process these payments in line…
One of the surprises of the recession caused by the pandemic is that, unlike the financial crisis over a decade ago, this time round there has not been significant permanent destruction of jobs nor a semipermanent rise in unemployment. Quite the contrary: many economies, including Ireland, are experiencing shortages of workers in some sectors, as…
The country’s manufacturing sector expanded at the slowest pace in 11 months in February as growth in output, new orders and employment all eased, a survey showed today. But growth still remained at an “elevated level” in historical terms and those surveyed expressed confidence about their output over the coming 12 months. The AIB IHS…
The European Commission is inviting comments on the commitments offered by Insurance Ireland to address competition concerns around access to a data sharing platform which the insurance body runs. EU competition regulators announced last summer that they had formed the preliminary view after a two-year investigation that Insurance Ireland breached competition rules in the motor…