Sterling on the back foot
27.02.2026 Daily blogSterling was on the back foot yesterday, shedding around half a percent against both the dollar and the euro (more than reversing Wednesday’s gains) amid a ‘risk off’ mood in markets and ahead of the result of the UK by-election in Gorton and Denton in Greater Manchester. Labour lost the latter convincingly, coming in a […]
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Weekly Round Up
Majority of Irish exports still exempt from US tariffs
President Trump seemed to do his best to sow uncertainty this week, see-sawing on whether to impose a new 10% or 15% global tariff. By asserting the new global 10% tariff would be ‘additional’ he was interpreted by some commentators as implying it would be on top of the existing 15% tariff ceiling on EU […]
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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