Posts by Practicenet
Services sector growth sees strong bounce in November
The country’s service sector growth bounced back strongly last month from a seven-year low as business confidence rose to its highest level since June amid firmer demand from customers, a survey showed today. A slowdown in manufacturing activity had threatened to spread in October to the services sector, where a long expansion in new orders […]
Read MoreCentral Bank to assess commercial property-focused funds
The Central Bank will conduct a “deep dive” into the role of property funds in the domestic commercial real estate sector and assess whether a macroprudential response is needed to any potential risks, Governor Gabriel Makhlouf said today. Research from the Central Bank showed that Irish investment funds now account for more than 35% of […]
Read MoreNo change to Central Bank’s mortgage lending rules
The Central Bank has decided not to make any changes to mortgage lending rules here that limit how much people can borrow from banks in order to fund house purchases. Following a review, the regulator has concluded that the measures continue to meet their objectives of strengthening bank and borrower resilience. It also said the […]
Read MoreFirst-time buyers drive demand for mortgage approvals
New figures from Banking & Payments Federation Ireland show strong growth in mortgage approvals figures for October, driven by demand from first-time buyers. The BPFI figures show that a total of 4,514 mortgages were approved in October . Of these 51.6% were for first-time buyers while mover purchasers accounted for 27%. BPFI also said that […]
Read MoreContactless payments grow steadily; BPFI
Consumers made almost 1.5 million contactless payments a day between July and end-September, according to figures from the Banking & Payments Federation. Contactless payments are those where consumers ‘tap’ their cards or devices and make payment without inputting a code on the payment device. The number of such payments grew by 44% year on year […]
Read MoreEconomic growth stretching services – Ibec
The employers’ group Ibec has warned that bottlenecks in transport, housing and childcare are making it more difficult for companies to hire and retain workers. In its latest Quarterly Economic Outlook, Ibec says it expects the economy to grow at a more moderate pace in the coming years. The employers’ group expects the economy to […]
Read MoreHighest weekly earnings in ICT sector – CSO
Average weekly earnings in the economy grew by 3.4% in the year to the end of September, according to the Central Statistics Office. Average earnings in the private sector grew by 3.9% while earnings in the public sector grew by 1.3%. The highest average weekly earnings were in the information and communications sector at €1,255.49 […]
Read MoreRevenue warning consumers about hidden costs of online shopping
Revenue is cautioning consumers to be aware of hidden taxes and charges when they’re buying goods online in the run into Christmas and discount days such as Black Friday. They are reminding shoppers that while the cost of goods advertised online can appear attractively low, it may because tax and duty has not been included […]
Read MoreState fund loses €750k due to ‘human error’
A State fund set up to support jobs in Ireland lost €750,000 on an investment because of a human error which wrongly categorised the money as euro when it should have been in dollars. When the rate of exchange moved against the State body it lost thousands because it failed to put in place a […]
Read MoreDublin businesses face rate hike over funding row
Businesses in Dublin city could be facing a big rate increase if the Government refuses to compromise on a funding row with the city council. The issue centres on the loss of €8.4m because of a change to rate liabilities for Irish Water facilities. Last week councillors refused to pass a number of measures including reduced community funding, […]
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