Business News

The US and the euro zone should not take the international status of their currencies for granted as countries such as China and Russia seek to create their own systems. The dollar’s 80-year-old reign as the world’s reserve currency is being called into question by some commentators. This is in light of China’s rise as…

The high rate of inflation in the euro zone ought to come down over the coming months, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said today. But she warned there was “considerable uncertainty” around the forecast. “We expect euro area inflation to continue to fall,” Lagarde said in a statement at the IMF’s spring meetings in…

The Irish jobs market has remained resilient despite recent layoffs in the technology sector, according to the latest Morgan McKinley Ireland Quarterly Employment Monitor. It shows there was a slight increase in professional job vacancies in Ireland in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the previous quarter. The number of jobs on offer has…

A new bill could see landowners and developers pay a charge of 30% on the difference in the value of land before and after residential zoning. The Land Value Sharing and Urban Development Zones bill seeks to clampdown on land speculation, where developers profit off land that is zoned for housing. Within the proposed law,…

The annual rate of inflation eased to 7.7% in March from 8.5% in February, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office today – the lowest level in 11 months. But core inflation – which excludes energy and food – continued to rise. March of last year marked the start of the dramatic…

New figures from the Central Bank show that a total of 86,298 current and deposit accounts were closed in Ulster Bank and KBC Bank in four weeks to the end of March. The account closures come as the two banks continue their withdrawal from the Irish market. The Central Bank said this marked a reduction…

The annual rate of residential property price increases slowed nationally to 5% in February, compared to 6.1% in January, new figures from the Central Statistics Office show. This marked a 22 month low and is one-third of the 15% growth rate seen in February last year. On a monthly basis, prices fell 0.4% in February,…

Struggling British banknote printer De La Rue warned its fiscal 2023 profit was set to miss market expectations and next year’s outlook was uncertain, as demand for cash hit its lowest in over two decades. This sent its shares to a record low. The company said it was talking to lenders about amending its banking…

New figures from the Central Bank show that the average interest rate on a new mortgage dipped in February to 2.92% from 2.93% in January. Ireland once again had the third cheapest mortgage rates in the euro zone in February. The euro zone average mortgage rate rose to 3.33%, almost three times the rate it…

The number of international visitors to Ireland over the first three months of the year remained down 16% compared to the same period in 2019, before the pandemic hit. According to data compiled by the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC), 1.7m people visited Ireland from overseas between January and the end of March. But the…