Ireland one step away from securing access to China's €51bn beef market
The Chinese food safety authority, the ASQIQ, agreed to send a team of veterinary inspectors to audit Irish meat export plants and systems in early December, with a view to opening up the vast Chinese market to Irish product in 2015.
On what was the first day of a five-day trade mission to China, Agriculture Minister, Simon Coveney, also announced that technical inspections would commence to prepare the way for …
Regulator's strict mortgage curbs face a baptism of fire
The recent rapid rise in house prices has rattled the Central Bank. Still smarting from criticism that it didn’t do enough to rein animal spirits during the Celtic Tiger house price boom, it has published a “consultation paper” on mortgage lending standards.
While lenders have been invited to submit their opinions on the Central Bank’s proposals, in practice it would seem that it has already made up its mind.
In …
Best Christmas in years will boost trade and jobs in retail
Traders are so confident of a return to a “normal” Christmas trade they will take on enough contract staff for 15 million hours of extra shifts in the next few weeks.
“We’ve turned a corner,” said a relieved Arnotts chief executive Ray Hernan.
Last year’s Christmas trade dashed retailers’ hopes. A combination of bad weather and lack of confidence among consumers killed the festive trade stone dead with retailers forced …
New State bank to boost SME lending to be launched today
Mr Schaeuble will be joined by the head of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Werner Hoyer, as well as Finance Minister Michael Noonan and Public Expenditure and Reform Minister Brendan Howlin for a joint signing ceremony officially launching the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI).
The state-backed SBCI, which was announced last May, will make up to €800m available for small and medium businesses under favourable terms.
Under the scheme, …
Number of defaulted loans at Bank of Ireland fall further
“Notwithstanding currency impacts in relation to UK assets, we have reduced the volume of defaulted loans by €1.9bn from June 30 2013 to a level of €16.4bn on September 30 2014,” it said.
The bank added that it was benefiting from the “positive economic” environments in both Ireland and the UK.
Irish mortgage and default arrears continued to reduce in the third quarter, with reductions achieved in both Owner Occupied …
Danske still writing off bad loans here despite upturn at home
Denmark’s biggest listed bank has had to cut staff and close branches to recover from the financial crisis, when it was hit hard by its exposure to Ireland as well as the sluggish Danish economy and a collapse in the country’s housing market.
Danske said it is aiming to pay out 40pc of net profit in dividends next year after its earnings almost doubled in the third quarter due to …
After debt do us part it will be a journey into the unknown
Except that, in the world of finance and economics, one has never been here before. Underlying truths may be permanent (despite the endless ill-fated attempts to deny them) but nothing ever repeats itself exactly.
Take debt. Back in the 1980s it was a central obsession, with lots of colourful statistics. The one I remember best was that we had more foreign debt per person than the Poles. This was considered …
The banks passed a stress test! Whoopee! and it only cost us €27bn
It was also spun out as a positive indicator for the future that Irish banks might now start to lend more money.
This missed the point entirely. In a country where the State bailed out the surviving banks to the tune of nearly €30bn, after conducting very arduous stress tests itself, basic innumeracy was the only way taxpayers would have had to fork out any more money for Bank of …
Business sentiment at highest level since 2006
All sectors have reported an improvement in business conditions, according to the latest KBC Bank of Ireland/Chartered Accountants Ireland Business Sentiment index.
Business chiefs also claimed that Budget 2015 will have a “modest” positive impact on employment and also help bolster investment.
Austin Hughes, KBC Bank Ireland chief economist, said the strongest element in the autumn survey was companies’ assessment of their own business volumes in the past three months.
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Corporate lending in Ireland suffers steepest fall since 2011
Ireland recorded a 12.5pc decline in corporate lending – its steepest drop since July 2011.
The figures from the European Central Bank showed corporate lending decreased on an annual basis in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Ireland, but continued to rise in Germany, Finland, France and Austria.
Weak lending has been one of the main impediments to growth as European companies rely mostly on funding from banks, which have been reluctant …