Posts by Practicenet

Business activity growth at 3 month low, according to AIB PMI survey Business activity in Ireland’s service sector expanded at the slowest pace in three months during July, amid the first reduction in foreign demand since November 2016. According to the AIB Services Purchasing Managers Index survey, overall new order growth eased to a three […]

Mortgage drawdowns up by 8.8% in second quarter A total of 10,157 new mortgages to the value of €2.25 billion were drawn down by borrowers in the second quarter of the year. This is according to the latest figures from Banking & Payments Federation Ireland. The figures marked an increase of 8.8% in volume terms […]

European debt rally pauses at start of a big week for bond markets Core European government bond yields steadied on Monday after posting their biggest weekly drop in seven weeks as investors consolidated positions before a central bank policy meeting this week where policymakers might unveil plans of more rate cuts. Though hopes have grown […]

First-time buyers feel ‘pushed out’ by bulk investors Fianna Fáil is calling on the Government to restrict tax incentives for institutional investors in the Irish property market. The party said so-called “cuckoo funds” have given rise to entire housing developments being snapped up, locking out first-time buyers. A review by the Department of Finance into […]

Road freight tonnage increased by 1.4% in 2018 A total of 149.2 million tonnes of goods was transported by road last year, new figures from the Central Statistics Office show, an increase of 1.4% on the 2017 total. But the CSO said that activity measured as weight by distance was 11,445 tonne-kilometres in 2018, a […]

UK car industry warns next PM no-deal Brexit is not an option Britain’s car industry has warned the next prime minister against a “seismic” no-deal Brexit in October, which it said could add billions of pounds in tariffs and cause border disruption, crippling the sector. Boris Johnson, the frontrunner to succeed Theresa May, and his […]

Report suggests new agri-food area for Ireland, UK A new shared food safety and animal health area taking in the island of Ireland and the island of Great Britain as a whole should be created to prevent the Irish backstop taking effect, according to a report by a UK non-government body of MPs, academics, trade […]

Consumers spent €1.7 billion online in March New figures from the Central Bank show that there are more payment cards than people in this country, with just over six million active credit or debit cards in circulation. In the first three months of the year, Irish people spent just over €1.7 billion using those cards […]