News

Euro zone economy stagnated in last quarter, foreshadowing weak 2025

31st January 2025

The euro zone economy stagnated last quarter as worried consumers zipped up their purses, adding to fears that a long-predicted recovery could be further delayed, Eurostat data showed today. Gross domestic product in the 20 nations sharing the euro was unchanged compared with the previous quarter, falling short of expectations for a 0.1% expansion in […]

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Bank of Ireland increases growth forecast for domestic economy for 2025

31st January 2025

Bank of Ireland has increased its growth forecast for the domestic economy for this year. It said modified domestic demand will expand by 4% compared to an earlier projection of 3%. It has forecast that employment will grow by 2.2% and Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which includes multinational activity, will grow by 4.3% The bank […]

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European Central Bank expected to cut interest rates by 0.25%

30th January 2025

The European Central Bank is expected to cut interest rates by 0.25% when its governing council meets today. This will bring the main refinancing rate, which is used to price mortgages, from 3.15% to 2.9%. The bank has been steadily cutting rates as inflation has declined from its peak of 10.6% in 2022. If the […]

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First-time buyer mortgage drawdowns hit highest level since 2007

30th January 2025

Mortgage drawdowns by first-time buyers (FTB) hit the highest level since 2007 last year, new figures show. The data from Banking and Payments Federation Ireland reveals that over 26,000 mortgages were drawn down by this group in 2024, worth €7.8 billion. In total, 40,030 mortgages were drawn down last year, valued at almost €12.6 billion. […]

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Over 80% of consumers targeted by scammers last year

30th January 2025

Over 80% of Irish consumers were targeted by scammers last year, new data shows. The research carried out by international money app Wise, reveals that almost half of consumers were targeted in the last three months of 2024 alone. This comes as the Irish Government has proposed new legislation, recommending measures such as the publication […]

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GDP falls by 1.3% in fourth quarter, CSO preliminary estimate shows

29th January 2025

A preliminary estimate from the Central Statistics Office today shows that gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 1.3% in the fourth quarter of 2024 from the previous three months, but was 6.3% higher than the same quarter the previous year. The Government has long cautioned against using GDP to accurately measure economic growth as it […]

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Spain’s economy outperforms euro zone in 2024 with 3.2% growth

29th January 2025

Spain’s economy expanded a stronger-than-expected 3.2% in 2024, by far outperforming its euro zone peers’ sputtering economies, preliminary data from the National Statistics Institute showed today. Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo said on Monday the government would raise its forecast for this year above the 2.4% following the release of the annual data, which was buoyed […]

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US tech stocks, dollar rebound after DeepSeek-triggered selloff

29th January 2025

Technology stocks regained some ground today with chipmaker Nvidia up about 2.5% in early trading, a day after it suffered the biggest one-day market capitalisation loss in history, and traders moved back out of safe-haven currencies into the dollar. On Wall Street, the mood was calmer than it was on Monday, with the S&P 500 […]

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Revenue says to work with businesses hit by storm Éowyn

28th January 2025

Revenue’s Collector General says Revenue will work with businesses negatively impacted by storm Éowyn. Joe Howley said Revenue understands that many of those impacted are not in a position to file returns because they do not have power, or may be facing longer term problems if their businesses have been damaged. “We will be pragmatic […]

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Euro zone banks tighten companies’ access to credit, ECB survey shows

28th January 2025

Euro zone banks tightened firms’ access to credit last quarter and expect further tightening in the first three months of 2025, a European Central Bank survey showed today, reinforcing the case for more interest rate cuts as the economy slows. Lending growth has been broadly stagnant for most of 2024 as the long-awaited economic recovery […]

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