Eurozone business activity picks up pace
Price cutting and a weaker currency helped eurozone business activity accelerate in February, according to surveys published just before the European Central Bank embarks on a trillion-euro stimulus programme.
Survey compiler Markit said the surveys pointed to first quarter GDP growth of 0.3%, the same as at the tail-end of 2014, as business activity expanded in the bloc’s four biggest economies for the first time since last April.
That growth …
Unemployment rate drops to 10.1% in February
Ireland’s unemployment rate declined another 0.2% in February, to reach 10.1%, its lowest level since 2009 — the last time the percentage figure was in single digits.
Latest data, published yesterday by the CSO, showed that 4,300 people came off the Live Register last month and back into work, reducing the seasonally adjusted total still on the register to 355,600. The number of long-term unemployed fell from 164,844 in January …
Services sector continues to expand
The country’s services sector is continuing to expand in the early part of the year with strong growth across all segments.
The domestic economy helped drive the sector’s growth last month while improving client confidence also translated into new orders for businesses.
The service sector experienced its 31st consecutive month of growth in February as the Investec Services Purchasing Managers’ Index headline figure climbed to 61.4, down slightly from 62.5 …
Exchequer returns fuel hope of beating deficit targets
Latest exchequer returns have raised hopes Ireland may beat its 2.7% of GDP budget deficit target for 2015.
The Department of Finance yesterday reported the generation of nearly €6.74bn in tax revenue for the first two months of this year, almost 16% up on the same period last year and 5.4%/€345m ahead of forecasts made in the last budget.
The figures also mean that the exchequer deficit amounted to just …
EU to assess suitability of bank debt rules
Jonathan Hill, the EU’s financial services chief, said he will assess the suitability of global rules on bank indebtedness and funding before implementing them within the bloc.
Mr Hill said that he will decide if it is “appropriate” to introduce a binding leverage ratio and net stable funding ratio proposed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision as part of the overhaul of its international banking rulebook developed in response …
Quantitative easing not working, says Blackrock Investment Institute boss
Central bank bond-buying programmes aren’t working, BlackRock’s Peter Fisher has claimed.
Quantitative easing is supposed to push investors into riskier assets, Mr Fisher, senior director of the BlackRock Investment Institute and a former under secretary of the US Treasury and executive vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said.
“It isn’t working,” Mr Fisher said. “Mostly, it drives up the price of the low-risk assets, as we’ve …
Employment figures put economy on firm footing
Labour market figures published by the CSO last week for the final quarter of 2014 contained further good news on the Irish economy, writes Oliver Mangan.
The data show the recovery in the economy is continuing to generate solid job growth with falling unemployment. It is also beginning to result in a pick-up in wages.
Employment rose by 10,000 or 0.5% in quarter four, following a rise of 11,000 or …
Eurozone consumer price slump eases back in February
The fall in oil prices helped keep Eurozone inflation down in negative territory last month, but prices fell at a slower pace than at the start of the year.
Consumer prices in the 19-member bloc fell by 0.3pc in February, better than the 0.6pc fall recorded in January.
Oil prices remain well below the levels seen a year ago, but they have been rising again, which have helped to stave …
Manufacturing in Ireland expands at 15-year record
Ireland’s manufacturing sector expanded at its fastest pace in 15 years last month, far outstripping the major European economies.
Output and new orders rose at faster rates than at the start of the year, when it seemed like the pace of growth was beginning to ease, according to the latest Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the sector.
Philip O’Sullivan, economist with specialist bank Investec, said February’s data was especially impressive …
Bank of Ireland sees massive rise in profits
Bank of Ireland has revealed a remarkable turnaround in fortunes with a profit of €921m for last year – an improvement of €1.5bn on 2013.
Richie Boucher, the bank’s group chief executive, said all divisions of the bank were now profitable and the bank is now the biggest lender in the economy.
The profits are the first for a full year at Bank of Ireland since the 2008 financial collapse.