Practice News

Euro zone government bond yields rose on Friday, after three consecutive days of selling-off, with the benchmark German 10-year Bund yield having briefly touched a six-week high in early London trading. Borrowing costs in Europe have tracked US Treasuries this week, which have been driven to new highs by a deluge of debt issuance in […]

The European Commission has proposed changes to the EU’s VAT rules, in preparation for the end of the transition period with the UK on 31 December 2020. The amendment to the VAT Directive introduces a special identification number for businesses in Northern Ireland, so that EU VAT provisions can be properly applied to goods, in […]

The UK economy suffered a bigger slump than any other major European economy in the second quarter, shrinking by a fifth and falling into its deepest recession on record. Official data released on Wednesday showed that gross domestic product (GDP) fell 20.4 per cent quarter on quarter, with widespread contractions across all sectors. The figures […]

THE manufacturing sector clocked up its fastest pace of growth in almost two years in July, rebounding from the worst period of the lockdown. The pace of a recovery that was under way in June accelerated last month, according to AIB’s manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI). The index tracks growth and decline on index either […]

The coronavirus pandemic has plunged Europe’s leading economies into historic recessions, figures published on Friday showed. France and Spain both reported double-digit quarter-on-quarter falls in economic output in the three months to June. The figures came after both the US and Germany on Thursday reported a loss of about a tenth of their gross domestic […]

One of the challenges we face in growing our economy is the limited size of our domestic market. Ireland’s entry into the then EEC in 1973, and subsequent adoption of the euro in 2002, opened the door to a large and developed marketplace. As the EU has progressed and expanded the four freedoms – goods, […]

HOUSING Minister Darragh O’Brien has signalled that couples who have a gross combined income of more than €75,000 will be eligible for a new affordable homes scheme. He also told the Dáil that he intends the guide price for such housing to be between €160,000 and €260,000 as he clashed with Sinn Féin’s Eoin Ó […]

Consumer sentiment continues to lag behind business confidence, fresh data from Bank of Ireland suggests. Bank of Ireland’s regular ‘Economic Pulse’ combines business and consumer elements to track sentiment in the economy month to month. The index was up 5.5 on last month but down 21.0 compared with a year ago. Business confidence has risen […]