Tags: Bank of Ireland, Dr. Dan McLaughlin, Economic Outlook, Economic Research Unit, The Bulletin

The consensus forecast for global growth in 2012 has moved down in recent months, reflecting weak manufacturing data over the autumn and an expectation that growth in Europe will be very weak amid signs that the final quarter of 2011 saw GDP contracting in both the euro area and the UK. Indeed, some forecasters foresee both experiencing a mild recession before recovering some ground in the second half of 2012, although the December data implies some stabilisation. The ECB has responded to what it now sees as downside risks to growth by cutting interest rates and we still expect further monetary easing, with the repo rate moving to 0.75% over the next few months. The Bank is also injecting huge sums into the money market, including the provision of 3 year funds, which may also ease government funding concerns as banks may well use this money, at least in pa  [...]
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Tags: Bank of Ireland, Dr. Dan McLaughlin, Economic Outlook, Economic Research Unit, The Bulletin

The ECB cut its repo rate by a quarter point in November and the market is generally expecting further easing. The Bank had raised rates earlier in the year, by a cumulative 0.5%, taking the repo rate to 1.5%, and most analysts had expected a straightforward reversal, implying that 1% would again be the floor for ECB rates in this cycle. That may not be the case and we expect rates to fall to at least 0.75% in the near term. This would still be above that of the UK (0.5%) and the US (0.25%) and a number of developments may persuade the Bank’s Governing Council that there is nothing sacred about 1%. The ECB already believes that the risks to growth in the euro zone are to the downside and the data of late certainly points to the possibility of at least one quarter of negative growth – the euro’s composite PMI index picked up marginally in November, but the 47.0 reading was the third consecutive month below 50 and hence implying contraction. Analysts have also cut thei  [...]
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Tags: Bank of Ireland, Dr. Dan McLaughlin, Economic Outlook, Economic Research Unit, The Bulletin

Executive Summary: The global economy slowed in the first half of 2011, with annual growth estimated at 3.8% in the second quarter from 4.4% in Q1 and over 5% in 2010. The limited data available for the third quarter implies a similar pace to Q2, although investor sentiment reflects a concern that the pace of expansion has slowed more sharply. Moreover, the rhetoric and actions of the major central banks also reveals fear that next year could see a much sharper slowdown. In the UK, for example, the Bank of England has announced further asset purchases – in effect more printing of money – in an attempt to counteract what it sees as substantial downside risks to growth, in part stemming from the turbulence engulfing the euro area. The Bank of Canada recently revised down its projections for global and Canadian growth and forecast a mild euro zone recession. In the US the Fed has also revised down growth projections and announced its intention to buy longer dated govern  [...]
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Tags: Bank of Ireland, Bill Cullen, Task 4, Team Spirit, Team Zest, The Apprentice

The Apprentice joins forces with Bank of Ireland on Monday for the teams' most enterprising challenge yet. Tune in to see who'll survive this week's boardroom battle and learn more about the contestants in our exclusive footage here!     (more...)  [...]
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Tags: Bank of Ireland, Damien Daly, Louis Fitzgerald Hotel, Michael Crowley

As part of Bank of Ireland's Enterprise Programme, Dublin West is currently hosting a number of economic seminars for SMEs. The first event was held last Wednesday 5th October in the Louis Fitzgerald Hotel.  There were two speakers from Bank of Ireland including Michael Crowley (Senior Economist Global Markets) and Damien Daly (Head of Group Deposits)  at this event. The event was a huge success and there are two more events planned in October. If you are interested in attending these events, you can find out more information in the events calender here. If you would like to view the photos from the event on 5th October, you can see them in the SlideShare presentation below. Enterprise Programme Event - Wednesday 5th   [...]
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Tags: Bank of Ireland, Bank of Ireland Global Markets, Dr. Dan McLaughlin, Economic Outlook, Economic Research Unit

Executive Summary: The recent pronounced deceleration in growth across the major economies, allied to the ongoing concerns about a Greek sovereign debt default, have prompted investors to cut back on risk and fuelled a high degree of volatility in financial markets. The Swiss franc normally benefits from such an environment but it has fallen sharply, following the decision by the Swiss authorities to set a ceiling for the currency against the euro, in order to prevent further appreciation and hence further damage to Swiss competitiveness. This has left the Japanese yen and the US dollar as the winners in the currency markets over the past month, with the latter outperforming all the major currencies despite the Fed’s commitment to keeping rates extremely low for the next two years and in the wake of an S & P downgrade. Th  [...]
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Tags: Bank of Ireland, Bank of Ireland Global Markets, Dr. Dan McLaughlin, Economic Outlook, Economic Research Unit, irish debt risk, NTMA

Executive Summary:

August proved a turbulent month for financial markets across the globe. Investors pared risk in the face of a slowdown in global growth, notably in the major Western economies, and further uncertainty regarding sovereign debt in the euro area. Ireland proved an exception however, with strong foreign buying helping to push Irish sovereign bond yields sharply lower, both in absolute terms and relative to the rest of the euro area.

The yield on 2-year bonds is currently trading around 8%, having reached 22% in late July, and the 10-year benchmark yield is under 8.5% from 14%. The latter move has taken the spread over Germany to 650 basis points, from over 1100. Moreover, Irish 10-year yields are now well below that of Portugal, the other recipient of funds from the EFSF, having traded well above for most of the year.

A number of factors lie behind this implied reassessment of Irish risk

Tags: A Flavour of the Future, Agri-Food companies, Bank of Ireland, IIEA Conference, Mark Cunningham, €200 million fund

Mark Cunningham, the Director of Business Banking at Bank of Ireland spoke at the recent IIEA Conference on the bank’s commitment to lending to and supporting business in the Agri-Food sector. In the first five months of this year, BoI Business Banking had received almost 7,000 applications for credit from those operating in the primary industries of agriculture, forestry and fishing. Mr Cunningham added that Bank of Ireland is very much open for business and 85% of all applications received were approved. Mr. Cunningham emphasised how without funding and support it wasn’t possible for companies in the Agri sector to grow and expand. Therefore, in order to give Agri-Food companies the financial assistance they needed to realise their opportunities, Mr. Cunningham announced that Bank of Ireland had set-up a €200 million fund for Agri-Food companies. read more

Tags: Bank of Ireland, Enterprise Week 2011, Europa Academy, Gabriel Bannigan, Is féidir linn, Leinster Rugby, Mark Cunningham, Michael Dawson, Seán Weafer, Time To Fly Ltd

On Wednesday 25th, the Enterprise Week event themed “Personal & Business Effectiveness and Networking” event took place at The Europa Academy in Swords to a packed and engaged audience. Prior to the event, entrepreneurs and business owners had the opportunity to network and mingle with SME exhibitors who were showcasing their products and services as part of Enterprise Week 2011. The main event started at 6.30pm with over 380 people taking their seats to listen to an uplifting welcome message from Gabriel Bannigan, Regional Manager -Dublin, Bank of Ireland. The positive energy from the recent Barack Obama visit was present in the room and the message of “Is féidir linn” was felt throughout the night. The first guest speaker was Neil O`Brien, Owner of Time To Fly Ltd who spoke on the topic of Mental Fitness. Neil made the point that when times were great in Ireland that we forgot the basics, and now it was time to get back to the basics. Gabriel Bannigan summed it   [...]
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