Calmer day in markets
25.03.2026 Daily blogIt was a reasonably calm day in markets yesterday. Oil prices remained relatively steady and European gas prices edged down a bit further. The main currency pairs traded in fairly narrow ranges with the dollar ending marginally firmer relative to Monday’s closing levels. EURUSD and GBPUSD are currently trading at about $1.16 and $1.34 respectively, […]
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Weekly Round Up
Irish CPI inflation likely to rise towards 3.5-4% in March
Equity markets have seen a fresh sell-off this morning as investors have reacted to President Trump’s ultimatum to Iran that he will strike energy infrastructure, should traffic through the Strait of Hormuz fail to resume. At the time of writing most European equity markets are down by at least a further 2%. Despite the conflict […]
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Global Watch
Global Watch January 2026
The US economy has held up better than expected though employment growth has slowed and unemployment has edged up, prompting the Fed to lower interest rates over the final months of last year. We expect it to cut by a further 50bps in 2026, in line with current market pricing. We also see the Bank […]
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Ireland Outlook
Ireland Outlook – January 2026
New Irish Economic Forecasts We have revised up slightly our forecast for Irish GDP growth to 11.2% in 2025, slowing to 2.8% in 2026. This reflects the surge in exports that occurred last year, which we believe mainly reflected new pharmaceutical facilities coming online. However, a key risk is that exports fall back as ‘front-running’ […]
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Ireland Infographic
Ireland Infographic – January 2026
We expect GDP will expand by 11.2% in 2025, 2.8% this year and by 3.5% in 2027. View the Ireland Infographic Here: Bank of Ireland Ireland Infographic January 2026
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UK Outlook
UK Outlook – February 2026
Ongoing moderate growth amidst risks We have marginally downgraded our 2026 and 2027 GDP forecasts, to 1.0% (from 1.2%) and 1.4% (from 1.5%), reflecting a loss of momentum through late 2025 and ongoing challenges and risks. Unemployment is set to rise more than previously expected – reaching 5.5% this year before levelling off and beginning […]
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UK Infographic
UK Infographic – February 2026
We expect that UK GDP increased by 1.4% last year and will grow by 1.0% in 2026 and 1.4% in 2027. Download the UK Infographic in Full Here: Bank of Ireland UK Infographic February 2026