Economic Research Unit

The Economic Research Unit (ERU) provides commentary and analysis of economic and market events in Ireland, the UK, the Euro Area and US.

The ERU prepares regular reports on the global, UK and Irish economies. Our latest publications are available for download here.

If you would like to get in touch, you can contact the team on economics@boi.com.

 

Sterling loses more ground post BoE

06.02.2026 Daily blog

The Bank of England MPC left interest rates on hold at 3.75% yesterday, as expected. The outcome was very tight, however, with 4 of the 9 Committee members voting for a 25bps cut. Moreover, the MPC said inflation is set to return to target about a year earlier than previously expected, hence interest rates are […]

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  • Weekly Round Up

    Bank of England signals rate cuts to come in 2026

    Today’s Bank of England decision to keep rates on hold at 3.75% was in line with expectations, but the tone of the minutes and press conference was not, indicating that the Bank rate was likely to be reduced further, and dropping the reference to gradual cuts. The Bank revised down it’s projection for UK GDP […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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’ […]

  • 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

  • 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 […]

  • 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

Meet the team

Conall Mac Coille, Group Chief Economist
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Michael Crowley, Senior Economist
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Patrick Mullane, Senior Economist
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Conn Creedon, Senior Economist
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Diane Woods, Economist/Operations Manager
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