Business News

Market expectations for the path of future interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank are “rather reasonable,” ECB policymaker Francois Villeroy de Galhau said in an interview on French radio BFM Business today. The ECB kept interest rates unchanged yesterday, as expected, but said September’s meeting was “wide open”. “Market expectations for the path…

The number of job vacancies remained unchanged in the second quarter of 2024, the first time in two years there was no quarterly decline in vacancies. Hiring platform IrishJobs has today published its Jobs Index for the last three months which it said showed signs of a positive trajectory in the jobs market amid steadier…

Airports and airlines across Europe are experiencing technical issues as media companies, banks and telecom firms around the world also reported that system outages were disrupting their operations. Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, one of Europe’s busiest hubs, is also being affected by a cyber outage, a spokesperson confirmed. “The outage has an impact on flights flying…

The domestic tourism market grew strongly in 2023 with over 14.3 million trips taken by Irish holidaymakers which generated €3.1 billion for the economy. New figures from Fáilte Ireland show over one million extra domestic holidays were taken by Irish people in 2023, an annual increase of 8%. Related expenditure was also up by 6.5%…

European Central Bank officials are sticking to plans to cut interest rates multiple times this year, even as higher US inflation delays a pivot to looser policy by the US Federal Reserve and tensions in the Middle East keep oil prices high. Investors are rethinking what they expected to be a global easing cycle after…

New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that wholesale electricity were 40.3% lower in March of this year compared to the same time last year. The CSO said that wholesale electricity prices in March 2024 were also 76.6% lower than in August 2022 when prices were at their highest since the CSO began looking…

Taoiseach Simon Harris said today there is capacity to build 60,000 homes a year and there is a need to continue the supply of new homes. Speaking on Today with Claire Byrne, he said that almost 33,000 home were completed last year. “I said we would build 250,000 more houses between 2025 and 2030. And…

New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the general government balance showed a surplus of €8.3 billion or 1.7% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2023. This marked a slight decrease on the record surplus of €8.6 billion in 2022. The CSO said that total government revenue increased to €123.7 billion in 2023,…

Euro zone inflation is likely to decline further and the European Central Bank may cut interest rates if its long-standing price growth criteria are met, ECB President Christine Lagarde said today. “At the same time, the Governing Council is not pre-committing to a particular rate path,” Lagarde said, repeating the bank’s most recent guidance. “Risks…

So-called ‘green’ job postings in Ireland are up over 90% since 2019, new data shows. The research from hiring platform Indeed highlights the growing demand for such roles, with sustainability now a top priority for many businesses. But the data suggests that companies are struggling to recruit for these positions, with searches by jobseekers down…