Central Bank: 20pc deposit for mortgages set to become standard
First-time buyers have been spared the worst of strict new lending rules introduced by the Central Bank.
However, a rural-urban divide in the housing market is set to widen considerably, with families in cities and large towns at a major disadvantage.
The limits will make it more difficult to get home-loan approval for those in the Dublin area and Cork city, where property prices are far higher than the rest …
€70m in working capital available for Irish SMEs
The Irish division of one of the world’s largest funders of small business — Bibby Financial Services — has announced details of €70m in working capital facilities available for SMEs through invoice finance.
A 70% increase on its 2014 credit facility availability, Bibby said its decision to make increased credit available to Irish businesses reflects both strong demand for alternative sources of finance, and deepening evidence that economic recovery is …
No more stress tests for Irish banks this year, says ECB
The Irish banks will not have to undergo stress tests again this year, according to an ECB source.
Under the terms of the EU Banking Union, it was agreed that the banks under the direct supervision of the Single Supervisory Mechanism would be subjected to annual stress tests in order to safeguard the stability of the banking system.
However, an ECB source, speaking at the margins of a meeting of …
Euro parity with dollar could be on the cards
With interest rates already at zero, the ECB, as had been widely expected, decided at last week’s council meeting to expand its asset purchase programme to include public debt, in effect launching a full-blown quantitative easing (QE) programme, writes Oliver Mangan.
This latest policy easing move allows for the purchase of government bonds in the secondary market.
The expanded programme is larger than markets expected, at €60bn per month, up …
NTMA to auction €500m T-Bills
The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) will hold its first auction of treasury bills in 2015 later this week. The agency will offer €500m of T-Bills with a six-month maturity on Thursday.
Late last year, the NTMA announced its intention to raise up to €15bn over the next 12 months as it resumed regular and pre-announced bond auctions.
Earlier this month, the debt agency mandated a number of its primary …
€1 in every €3 spent is via Visa card
Visa’s Irish operations had a record year in 2014 with €28.4bn being spent by consumers via the payments technology firm’s products.
The total covers use of credit, debit and pre-paid Visa cards; as relates to online and point-of-sale transactions. It marks a 32% rise on the previous year.
This fresh surge in Visa products, here, means that €1 in every €3 spent last year by Irish consumers was via a …
New hope for buyers: Five years before full 20pc mortgage cap
Homebuyers will have five years to escape the full brunt of the new 20pc mortgage deposit rules, under new proposals being considered by the Central Bank. The Central Bank Commission will decide on the new rules on Tuesday, but the Sunday Independent has learned that the preferred option is now a 15pc mortgage deposit, rising by 1pc each year over the next five years.
While sources close to the process …
BoI lending to SMEs up 13%
Bank of Ireland’s lending to the SME sector increased 13% to €4.5bn last year compared with the previous year.
There was a total of 61,000 credit applications during the 12-month period with an 88% approval rate.
“Agriculture continued to be a very important growth sector for the bank, with overall approvals to the sector exceeding €620m, a 19% increase over the previous year; €135m was approved for land purchase and …
ECB has brought eurozone to the brink of confrontation
So the ECB has finally made its move. Mario Draghi has “done what it takes”, writes By Kyran FitzGerald.
At least, that is what we all fervently hope. A larger programme than expected of quantitative easing gets under way shortly.
It will amount to around €1.14 trillion or €60bn a month between March 2015 and September 2016. The Germans have by and large reacted negatively to this long-delayed announcement.
Exporters to benefit most from €1.1bn QE plan
Irish exporters are set to be the main beneficiaries from the ECB’s planned €1.1bn in quantitative easing.
The euro went into freefall following ECB president Mario Draghi’s announcement yesterday that the bank would buy up to €60bn of public and private debt per month until September 2016.
“This move should in the coming months result in lower borrowing costs for euro area countries, including Ireland, but undoubtedly the most powerful …