ECB launches bond-buying in bid to kick-start lending
The move comes despite misgivings in Germany and elsewhere.
After cutting interest rates last month to what it said was “the lower bound”, the ECB left its main refinancing rate at 0.05pc yesterday.
President Mario Draghi said the ECB would begin to buy covered bonds, a form of secured debt created by pooling mortgages together, from banks in mid-October and that it will purchase asset-backed securities (ABS) – bundled loans …
New business up to its highest level in eight years – Investec
Employment in the sector also grew for the 25th month in a row, according to the Investec Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI).
The index, which covers businesses from banks to hotels, rose to 62.5 in September from 62.4 in August.
The sector has now experienced over two years of successive expansion in business activity, said Investec’s chief economist Philip O’Sullivan.
The index has been above 60 for the past seven months …
Economy to surge by 5.3pc this year, Goodbody says
Ireland will be by far the best performing Eurozone economy as the recovery here broadens and strengthens. according to Goodbody chief economist Dermot O’Leary. Growth will be 5.3pc this year and 4pc in 2015, he said in a new report.
He made the comment as new data from Investec shows manufacturing output and employment grew in September for a 16th straight month.
While the rate of growth slowed, Investec’s Philip …
Nama pooling 100s of small debtors' loans ahead of sales
Under the plan the loans of dozens of unrelated debtors will be bundled together into portfolios by Nama managers and sold as combined lots.
Yesterday the agency put €600m of Irish property assets including Facebook’s Dublin headquarters, shopping centres, hotels and apartments on the market in five portfolios.
Up to now, Nama has mainly sold very large portfolios tied to only one borrower, such as the €1.8bn Project Tower portfolio …
Firms will borrow more as economy picks up – ESRI
Research from the Economic and Social Research Institute to be published today says that following recent deleveraging which has occurred in the economy, credit demand over the coming years will grow in line with GDP growth and that the share of credit accounted for by the property sector will decline relative to other business sectors.
Overall projections suggest that credit stocks for non-financial corporations and SMEs will stabilise at a …