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Last week’s slew of data on the state of the economy contained many nuggets. Among them was the sheer scale of Ireland’s services exports, the value of which last year exceeded the value of manufactured goods exports for the first time.

In this regard Ireland is unique. While most countries have seen their services exports increase, reflecting the rise and rise of services provision in economic activity, in no other sizeable economy are they in excess of 50pc of GDP, as is the case in Ireland.

It is impossible to say how much further this trend will go, but the possibilities appear endless given that the rise to dominance of services is a very long-term trend.

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ADVISORS for Eircom have approached some of Europe’s largest private-equity firms as the company weighs the possibility of a sale as an alternative to returning to the stock market.

UK-based Apax Partners, CVC Capital Partners and US multinational KKR & Co are among buyout firms that have been approached to form a consortium for the Dublin-based firm.

Officials at Eircom, Apax and CVC declined to comment. KKR representatives didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

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It will mirror a new structure pioneered by Germany where mid size companies are now able to bypass banks to borrow through the capital market.

“We are working with the Department of Enterprise, Enterprise Ireland and the Department of Finance to see is there a credible – or on what basis could we have – a credible bond market for mid sized enterprises in Ireland,” ISE chief executive Deirdre Somers said in an interview with the Irish Independent.

Germany’s Deutsche Borse has already developed a market that allows investors to buy into securities made up of – and backed by – incoming generating SME debt.

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GERMANY has approved draft laws including a plan that could give Ireland’s bid for a debt deal a shot in the arm.

The laws ensure that biggest European economy is in line with rules that allow the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) to recapitalise banks directly under strict circumstances.

The move is a positive sign for Ireland in light of ongoing talks about recapitalisations that had centred on Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks – these talks are being headed up by Finance Minister Michael Noonan.
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JUST one in five homeowners who are in arrears has been offered a permanent deal to lower their payments by their bank.

New figures out this afternoon show that close to 15,000 of the almost 74,000 residential mortgage accounts that are arrears for three months or more have had a permanent restructure put in place.

But the overall number of residential mortgage accounts that are in arrears fell in May, the Department of Finance said.

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THE mass sell-off of loans books by Irish lenders could be used by a US private equity house to create the kernel 
of a third baning force, 
according to one of the country’s leading corporate finance executives.

So far this year €27bn of Irish business loans, property loans and residential mortgages have been sold by banks, according to new research from PWC.

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IRELAND should be given greater flexibility from the European Commission in setting the Budget, Michael Noonan has signalled.

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Brussels doesn’t need to pour over every detail of our tax and spending plans, the finance minister said ahead of a meeting of euro zone finance ministers in Brussels yesterday.

His comments come as Italy, which has taken over the six month rotating presidency of the European Union, called for a looser interpretation of the budget rules that European leaders beefed up at Germany’s insistence in 2011 after the scale of Greece’s financial plight became clear.

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SHORT-term business loans for small firms in Ireland plummeted 77pc between 2007 and 2011, a new report from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has claimed.
The OECD’s financing small business report said business loans in Ireland fell from €56bn in 2007 to €38bn in 2012.

Short-term loans made up about 90pc of total new SME lending over that period, but the report said these loan volumes plummeted 77pc between 2007 and 2011 to €4.4bn from €19.4bn.

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More than 100 companies promising 8,000 jobs told the IDA during the last six months that they will set up shop or expand here.

That’s about a thousand jobs more than the same period last year and follows a robust period for the agency which has seen major job announcements Deutsche Bank, Symantec and eBay.

That means job creation is now at record levels.

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IBEC, the employer’s lobby group, will urge Michael Noonan to cut income tax and VAT in October’s Budget.

In its traditional pre-Budget submission published today, Ibec says Mr Noonan should take just €200m out of the economy in the Budget or a tenth of the sum promised by the Government to overseas creditors.

“Now is the time to cut income and consumer taxes, boost investment,” Ibec’s Danny McCoy said in the submission. A €200m cut would still allow the Government to bring the deficit to 2.7pc in 2015 and comfortably below the Government’s 3pc target, the lobby group claims.

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