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The European Central Bank’s governing council is widely expected to raise interest rates by another half a percentage point today after its meeting in Frankfurt. The ECB’s move will come as the financial world continues to be rocked by turmoil in the banking sector in Europe and the United States. Today’s widely expected half point…

The pace of residential property price inflation slowed to an annual rate of 6.1% in January, compared to an annual rate of 7.7% in December, according to the latest Central Statistics Office figures. Today’s figures also show a marked increase in property sales by investors last year. The CSO said that home prices fell on…

Irish online consumers can be led into over consumption, over indebtedness and may lose out on fair pricing and terms due to online e-commerce practices by some sellers, according to the European Consumer Centre Ireland. Last year Irish people were the third biggest online shoppers in Europe after the Netherlands and Denmark. The European Consumer…

European Central Bank policymakers are still leaning towards a half-percentage-point rate hike tomorrow, despite turmoil in the banking sector, as they expect inflation will remain too high in coming years, a source told Reuters. Investors had begun to doubt the ECB’s commitment to another big rate hike this week after the collapse of Silicon Valley…

The European Commission has proposed changes to Europe’s electricity market rules, to try to increase the use of fixed-price power contracts, shield consumers from price spikes and speed up the shift to renewable energy. The European Union said last year it would overhaul its electricity market after cuts to Russian gas supplies drove European power…

Non-bank lender, Finance Ireland, is increasing its fixed mortgage rates by up to 0.75%. The company said 5-year fixed rates will increase by 0.5%, while 3-year fixed rates will rise by 0.75%. The changes will take place from this Thursday. But the lender said that customers who have a loan offer by then will have…

Nearly 27,000 new housing units will be delivered this year, new figures from Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) suggest. The latest BPFI housing market monitor shows that housing supply recovered significantly last year after lower-than-expected output in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. Almost 30,000 new homes were completed last year, up 45%…

MEPs will vote later today on proposals to set minimum energy standards for buildings across the EU. Among the changes, the heating and cooling of new buildings will have to result in zero emissions from 2028 onwards. The energy rating of existing residential buildings will have to meet a minimum E rating by 2030 and…

Hotel rooms in Dublin city are almost completely sold out ahead of St Patrick’s Day, with rooms also in demand for the Six Nations championship and Mother’s Day the same weekend. The Irish Hotel’s Federation (IHF) said there is only approximately 1% availability left, while room prices in the capital have jumped by 18% over…

There has been a fall in the number of companies implementing or trialling a four-day working week, according to a new survey. The study by recruitment company Hays Ireland shows that the number of workplaces that have either implemented or are trialling a four-day working week has dropped from 6% in 2022 to 3.5% in…