Bank of Ireland looks to ramp up agri sector loans
The firm said it is hiring 15 specialists in the area as it looks for more customers in the agri space. The bank claims to provide more than half of all new and increased agri lending with land acquisition, farm buildings and increased stocking requirements the main drivers of growth.
“With agriculture anticipated to be one of the best-performing sectors in the next few years and with strong growth potential …
'Economy will grow by 4.5pc this year' – Michael Noonan
It comes as the Central Statistics Office (CSO) said the economy grew by 1.5pc between April and June.
And when you compare the April and June period of this year, the second quarter, with the same period in 2013, the economy expanded 7.7pc.
“My people advising me tell me that it’s a trend that will continue. We’ll be marking up the growth figures for 2014 and 2015,” Mr Noonan said.
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UK shares lead European stock gains following Scotland snub to independence
Britain’s blue-chip FTSE 100 index rose by 0.7 percent, with Scottish-based stocks such as Royal Bank of Scotland and utility SSE among the top-performers, rising by 3.2-3.3 percent respectively.
The FTSE, which had underperformed going into the Scottish vote this week, beat a 0.5 percent rise on Germany’s DAX and on France’s CAC.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was up by 0.8 percent at 1,409.36 points.
“There’s a bit of …
Europe the continent with the most billionaires – report
More billionaires – 775 in total – live in Europe than on any other continent in the world, with North America the second most popular continent with 609.
Most of Europe’s billionaires – 130 – live in the UK, followed closely by Germany with 123.
The report, carried out by Wealth X and UBS, says Ireland has three billionaires, but doesn’t name them.
The figure of 2,325 billionaires for the …
Government 'could create 90,000 jobs' in green economy
A report from the Irish Corporate Leaders on Climate Change says opportunities exist in wind energy, buildings, electrification, smart grid, green financing and agriculture, but that goverment leadership is needed.
It says a reluctance to tackle the issue is based on assumptions that the cost is too high, between 0.7pc and 1.6pc of GDP.
However, it says that spending should be considered an investment in a low-carbon future, which will …