Ireland's real 2027 budget package is larger than announced
Irish Fiscal Advisory Council said the delivered Budget 2027 package is likely larger than the 6 October announcement after overruns above 2 billion euros a year. Grocery prices rose 3.8 per cent and rents rose 1.4 per cent.
Economics & Markets··Midday
IFAC says the delivered Budget 2027 package runs past the 6 October announcement
The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council said the package delivered is likely much larger than the one announced in Budget 2027 on 6 October. Its reason is that spending overruns have become routine: over the past decade they have averaged more than 2 billion euros a year in today's terms. The council said the Summer Economic Statement implies net spending growth of 6 per cent in 2027, above the roughly 5 per cent it considers sustainable, and that a large package would add to inflation and raise costs for households and businesses. Spending pressures already in train, among them an ageing population and inflation, could reach 8 billion euros in 2027 before any new measures. Following the Government's medium-term plan would leave seven of every eight euros of corporation tax funding ongoing commitments, with one saved. The last year spending came in at or below budgeted levels was 2013.[1]
Irish grocery prices rose 3.8 per cent as spending rose 5.8 per cent
Grocery prices rose 3.8 per cent in the four weeks to 9 August, easing again, while spending was up 5.8 per cent. On a like-for-like basis prices were 3.87 per cent higher, according to Worldpanel by Numerator. Warm weather shaped the basket: shoppers spent nearly 197 million euros on alcoholic drinks over the latest 12 weeks, 5.6 per cent more than a year earlier, and an extra 36.1 million euros on soft drinks, ice cream, antipasti and suncare. Branded goods grew 12.2 per cent in value, adding 200 million euros and taking a 49.8 per cent share, while own label grew 4.3 per cent. Lidl posted the strongest 12-week growth at 14.8 per cent. Dunnes holds the largest share at 24.1 per cent, ahead of Tesco on 23.8 per cent and SuperValu on 19.4 per cent.[2]
Irish market rents rose 1.4 per cent in the second quarter after a 4.4 per cent jump
Market rents rose 1.4 per cent between March and June, according to the second-quarter report from the property website Daft. That is well below the first quarter's 4.4 per cent, the biggest quarterly rise Daft has measured, and close to the quarterly average of the past decade. Annual increases were 13 per cent in Galway, 12 per cent in Cork, 11 per cent in Limerick and 6.5 per cent in Dublin. The average market rent for a two-bedroom apartment is 2,204 euros a month nationwide and 2,634 euros in Dublin. At the start of August the number of homes advertised to rent was up 5 per cent on a year earlier at just under 2,400, falling 18 per cent in Dublin while rising 40 per cent across the rest of the country. Ronan Lyons, the report's author, said the surge in the first quarter looks like a one-off reset rather than the start of a new trend.[3]
