Money Ireland

Markets news on stocks, currencies and commodities; Japan reports first annual trade deficit since 1980; World Economic Forum opens in Davos.

The IMF (International Monetary Fund) says today in its latest Fiscal Monitor report that deficits in many advanced economies fell significantly during 2011, and most plan substantial  adjustment this year. The Fund said continued adjustment is necessary for medium-term debt sustainability, but should ideally occur at a pace that supports adequate growth in output and [...]

The IMF (International Monetary Fund) said today that since the last Global Financial Stability Report (GFSR) in September 2011, risks to stability have moved deeply in the Danger Zone, despite various policy steps to contain the Eurozone debt crisis and banking problems.

Markets news on stocks, currencies and commodities; Irish retail sales continued to fall in Q4 2011; India’s Reserve Bank switches stance to economic growth.

A report by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) says Ireland spent more on pharmaceuticals per capita than any other OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development – -  a think-tank for rich countries) country except the US, Canada and Greece in 2009. In 2010, it cost the State about €1.9bn for purchases of [...]

Principal news stories from the Irish Times and Irish Examiner.

IMF managing director Christine Lagarde today called on the international community to take urgent collective action to save the world economy from a downward spiral. She also said the Eurozone needed a bigger firewall to prevent Italy and Spain sliding towards default.

Markets news on stocks, currencies and commodities; EU finance ministers to discuss new bailout fund and Greece restructuring talks.

Irish house prices have now nearly returned to normal affordability, following the housing bubble while Vancouver overtook Sydney as the least-affordable housing market after Hong Kong among large English-speaking cities, as home prices rose faster than incomes, an international study of 325 metropolitan areas worldwide shows.

The deleveraging process of cutting debt has only just begun in most countries of the advanced world. Based on data up to Q2 2011, total debt has actually grown across the world’s 10 largest developed economies since the 2008–09 financial crisis, due mainly to rising government debt. Two thirds of the fall in US household [...]

Google’s fourth-quarter earnings rose 6.3% but missed analysts’ estimates  and shares in Google dipped 9.7% to $577.92 in after-hours trading, as both earnings and revenue were short of expectations.