Business and Finance News
ECB to ramp-up QE: Irish rates above Italy’s and Spain’s
Last Thursday was the 68th birthday of Mario Draghi, but at the central bank’s new headquarters in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, it was the ECB president who delivered the gift surprise to the markets when he suggested that the quantitative easing (QE) p…
Ireland: Best small country for business in 2016?
Ireland has had a positive environment for business for many decades as successive governments sought to make the country an attractive location for foreign direct investment (FDI), besides the offer of low tax rates. During the general election campai…
US adds 173,000 in August; Jobless rate falls to 5.1%
US nonfarm payroll employment increased by 173,000 in August, and the unemployment rate edged down to 5.1%. Employment rose in health care and social assistance and in financial activities, while manufacturing and mining employment declined. The broad …
Irish pension managed funds slide in August due to China volatility
Irish pension managed funds delivered negative returns during August, with the average loss being 5.9%. Setanta Asset Management were ranked top this month with a return of -4.2%, while Friends First/F&C propped up the league table with a return of…
Can Ireland reduce its reliance on FDI by boosting Irish firms?
In the world before 1950 it was rare for a poor country without significant natural resources to become rich. The moves led by the United States to cut tariffs in the 1950s prompted the ‘Economic Development’ report in 1958 in which T.K. Whitaker (1916- ), Ireland’s then top civil servant, proposed the end of protectionism and the embracement of re-emerging globalisation by attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) to boost exporting. In a 1957 memorandum on the failure of Irish economic policy and the general sense of hopelessness in the country, Whitaker warned that “without a sound and progressive economy, political independence would be a crumbling facade.” Two decades later in 1978 Deng Xiaoping (1904-1997) also faced a choice as it had been over a century since China had been the world’s biggest economy — Angus Maddison (1926-2010), the renowned economics historian, chronicled the grim intervening times here.
Irish broad jobless rate at 19% in August
On a seasonally adjusted basis the Live Register total recorded a monthly decrease of 1,900 (-0.6%) in August 2015, reducing the seasonally adjusted total to 341,400. In unadjusted terms the CSO reported today that there were 359,076 people signing on the Live Register in August 2015 — this represents an annual decrease of 39,249 (-9.9%). Adding the 67,000 in public activation schemes in July (the level was 65,000 in July 2014 and in non-summer months is typically at about 80,000) gives a total number of 426,000 and a broad rate of unemployment of about 19%.
Eurozone services index rose in August matching 4-year high
The Eurozone Services Business Activity Index rose to 54.4 in August, matching June’s four-year high and slightly above the earlier flash estimate of 54.3.
Irish 2015 budget deficit may dip below 2% of GDP
The Irish budget deficit continues to decline and Department of Finance Exchequer returns published Wednesday showed red ink (general government items only) of €3.7bn in the year to end-August, down from €6.5bn a year earlier. Stripping out what is seen as a timing issue in one department, the deficit is €1.9bn (0.9% of GDP) better than the government’s original Budget 2015 expectations — it is likely to undershoot the original target of 2.7% of GDP by a significant margin to result in a likely outturn of below 2% of GDP in 2015.
Irish services PMI rises in August
The latest Irish services PMI (purchasing manager’s index) survey show improving economic conditions in Ireland continued to benefit the service sector in August, resulting in further sharp expansions of activity and new business. Companies responded by taking on extra staff at the fastest pace in three months. The CSO will publish the official services index for July on Friday — in the 12 months to June, the index was only up by 2.4%.
Which countries are most exposed to China?
Chinese markets were closed today (and Friday is also a public holiday) as a massive military parade in Beijing aimed at “rekindling the glorious past of forces led by the Communist Party of China (CPC) in defeating Japanese invaders in World War II,” according to official media — the United States defeated Japan and within China the nationalist government of the Republic of China also played a significant part.