Business News

The UK’s finance minister has announced that she will re-introduce mandatory housing targets. In her first speech as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves said that the new government will build 1.5 million homes over the next five years. Ms Reeves also announced plans to boost economic growth, adding that it was a national mission.…

The Government says a new EU law aimed at tackling greenwashing will strengthen the rules around the social and environmental information which companies have to report. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive has been signed into law by Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke. Under the law, companies will have to report in more detail about the…

Investor morale in the euro zone broke an eight-month streak of improvements with a bigger-than-expected decline in July, a survey showed today, describing the results as a “bitter setback”. Sentix’s index for the euro zone fell to -7.3 points for July from 0.3 in June, putting the barometer firmly back in the red. Analysts polled…

Total construction activity fell for the second month in a row in June, new data shows. BNP Paribas Real Estate Total Construction PMI index fell to 47.5, from 49.8 in May. The report suggests that a fall in commercial activity was a key factor behind the latest reduction in total activity. “Commercial activity surged through…

Asking prices for homes across the country rose at the fastest rate in almost two years in the 12 months to the end of June, new data shows. According to the MyHome.ie Property Price Report, advertised prices nationally were up 7.3% with the median asking price reaching €365,000. The last time the annual inflation rate…

Some European Central Bank policymakers felt uneasy about recent inflation developments when they cut interest rates last month and feared that any further delay in reaching the target would be costly, the accounts of their June 5-6 meeting showed today. The ECB cut interest rates at that meeting and signalled that more easing is likely…

The Governor of the Central Bank has urged the Government to stick to its own rule limiting the overall annual increase in spending to 5% in the upcoming budget. Gabriel Makhlouf also advised the new Minister for Finance, Jack Chambers, that it will be necessary to strike the right balance to avoid the risks of…

The Taoiseach has told the banks he wants people to feel the benefits of reduced monthly mortgage repayments as quickly as possible as interest rates begin to fall. Simon Harris has now concluded a series of meetings with banks, credit unions and non-bank lenders. The meetings focused on mortgage interest rates, the housing sector and…

The State took in a total of €44.7 billion in tax in the first six months of the year, up more than 9% on the same period last year, the latest exchequer returns show. The strong performance was driven in particular by corporation tax, income tax and VAT and contributed to an exchequer surplus of…

Budget 2025 is to be brought forward one week to Tuesday 1 October, Minister for Finance Jack Chambers has said. Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Mr Chambers said it was the “natural date” to hold the Budget due to ministerial commitments in Europe the following week. “We’ve to submit our fiscal and budgetary submission to…