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THE MINISTER FOR Finance will test the waters for an early repayment of IMF loans with leading European figures next week.
The IMF last month confirmed that Ireland could repay its loans early with no financial penalty, raising the prospect of cutting hundreds of millions of euro off our annual debt repayments.
However, any such deal would require the agreement of the other parties that advanced cash to the State during the bailout era, including fellow troika members the European Central Bank and the European Union.
In addition to the troika loans, several bilateral loans were advanced from other member states including Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Under the loan agreements, all parties must be treated equally in terms of repayment scheduling, meaning the Government must negotiate agreement from our other debtors to secure the deal.
Noonan will travel to Brussels next Monday to meet EU Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Jyrki Katainen. On Thursday he will meet the CEO of the European Stability Mechanism, Klaus Regling, President of the Eurogroup Jeroen Dijsselbloem and ECB president Mario Draghi.
He will hold a series of meetings with EU Finance Ministers at the informal meeting of Ecofin (the council of European finance ministers) in Milan on Friday and Saturday.
In a brief statement, the Department of Finance said:
These meetings are taking place to seek the support of the relevant EU institutions and member states. This support is required to enable repayment of the loans.
The exact scale of the savings would depend on the structure of any refinancing agreement, but Noonan said earlier this year that an early payback of €15 billion could save up to €375 million per year.
Ireland was lent €22.5 billion by the IMF under the bailout agreement.
Deal looks likely
Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Fiona Hayes said that she expects the EU and other debtors to agree to allow the Government to repay the IMG loans in a number of tranches over the next 18-24 months.
“For reputational reasons it would be good for Ireland to repay early. It’s not a done deal yet but it’s hard to see why they wouldn’t agree.”
She said that she expects the NTMA to run a series of bond issuances to cover the early repayments, although raising the full €22.5 billion from the markets is unlikely. A 15 year bond, which would be appealing for insurance companies and pension funds, is more likely than the usual ten year paper sold off by the NTMA.
“A longer dated issuance will be hoovered up by insurance companies and pension funds, which are the natural investor for this.”
Exchequer figures
Elsewhere, new figures released this afternoon by the Department of Finance show that the exchequer deficit was nearly €1 billion lower at the end of August than a year previously.
Tax revenue to the end of the month was €24.9 billion, €2.04 billion higher than last year. Revenues for August were €423 million ahead of target, but the Department said this was “flattered” by delayed stamp duty receipts and corporation tax payments.
Revenues from the Local Property Tax (LPT) are marginally below profile, falling €6 million short of the target. €363 million has been collected under the measure so far.
On the expenditure side, spending is €476 million down on last year at €27.5 billion.
As usual, the Department of Health is the main overspending culprit, with outflows €115 million above its targeted budget.
It cost the State €5.5 billion to service its debt, an annual increase of €72 million.
Investec Ireland chief economist Philip O’Sullivan said that the figures would provide confirmation that public finances are “comfortably ahead of expectations”.
(This) will undoubtedly strengthen the hand of those looking for the brake to be applied to the government’s fiscal consolidation drive in next month’s budget. The previous €2 billion target for new fiscal measures is clearly dead in the water.
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I have worked in retail for over 15 years. I loved dealing with people,helping customers with their queries and feeling like I made a difference. Then,you know what happened? People happened. Grumpy SOB’s that come into the shop at 7.30 in the morning,throwing coins at me for a paper without so much as a hello, people complaining that the coffee machine is on a cleaning cycle and walking off in a huff or when you don’t activate petrol pumps within 2 seconds,you get an earful.. People completely ruined my love for retail so….rant over
What’s the difference between people now and 15 years ago?
Experience and 15 years full of taking cr@p from people. Most retail staff can be unprofessional as well,I understand that but I’ve put up with and seen a fair amount of abuse from people over the years and it’s made me want to just get out of it altogether. A nice office somewhere away from people
But you just said in your first comment you loved dealing with people and then you contradicted yourself that you hate dealing with people?
You get ass###es in all walks of life and in every job. It’s just the way the world is. I have learnt over the years to take these people in my stride and realise it’s not my fault they’re unpleasant. If you stand up to them they usually back down quite quickly. They usually pray on the weak.
I realise giving lip to unpleasant people isn’t easy when your in customer services but you can make life more difficult for them. Get some pleasure from that.
Your mistake was staying in retail for 15 years.
I used to like people before I worked in retail, four years of idiocy and snide remarks when you’re trying to do your utmost best for them takes its toll..
Yes I LOVED dealing with people when I first started out but people’s attitude changed my opinion on the job. I don’t hate dealing with people at work but they don’t make the job any easier. Most customers are lovely but you will ALWAYS get at least 3 in any shift that will cause a problem when there is none there. Asking a customer if they have any fuel outside can be a nightmare. IT IS MY JOB TO ASK THIS!! Yet when I ask some people,it’s like I’ve committed the worst atrocity towards them
They’re 15 years older
How do people get offended when asked ‘did you get fuel’ is beyond me?. There is a few people round here like that. The whole community think they’re ass###es so be safe in the knowledge that most people think the same.
One of the bullet points says, “Only 27% of shoppers found their main supermarket to be fun and exciting.”
Whenever I have roller-skated through the Tesco aisles, expertly lobbing everything I need into a basket as I go and usually without dropping anything, I was always stopped by security and abruptly asked to leave :/
Shopping isn’t exciting for me anymore, I am one of the disgruntled 27%. Sort it out Tesco!
In retail, the public think they have a right to walk in and completely ruin anything you have, whether it be a display, cleanliness or dignity. They will shout and ball at you for the littlest things imaginable. Families with kids are the worst horror of all, spoiling peoples day with their disregard of other people, so they don’t have to look after the kids. The elderly are split into 2 groups, really nice and pleasant or real S.O.B.’s
I still get amazed how people walk into penny’s and destroy the stores on a daily basis.
Retail workers are usually on minimum wage and deserve a medal for what they have to put up with!
You sir, I salute you. Do you work or have you worked in retail? Because you know what you’re on about. If you haven’t, I’m amazed at your consideration – something that the majority of the non retail experienced public seem to lack.
He’s dead right, parents that don’t keep control of their kids while enquiring about a product and the children wreck the shop then you spend an hour fixing for it only for it to happen again and again and again…
Once this little brat walked around the whole perimeter of the store, held his arm out to his level and knocked over EVERYTHING at arms level. Needless to say i was fit to kill the mother…
He’s dead right, parents that don’t keep control of their kids while enquiring about a product and the children wreck the shop then you spend an hour fixing for it only for it to happen again and again and again…
Once this little brat walked around the whole perimeter of the store, held his arm out to his level and knocked over EVERYTHING at arms level. Needless to say i was fit to kill the mother…
Sell blue moulded chocolate eclairs,that’s how Tescos got me to go back to them yesterday
I can’t understand then, how lidl and aldi have taken the Irish and British markets by storm, since their interiors look like a warehouse. Does not compute….
Both Aldi and Lidl are bright and airy – Aldi more so, in my opinion. Walk in the door, you can see from one side of the shop to the other. No clutter. Flow around nicely with your trolley. It’s always clean. Get to the checkout and be dealt with quicker than in any of the other supermarkets. They pay their staff a considerable amount more than any other chain and it pays off.
And you can walk into any Aldi in Ireland and find exactly what you went in for in 10 seconds unlike the big names where your a half an hour trying to find a bag of sugar.Aldi may not be fancy but they are functional and cheap.
That’s bollox about the queues. You often spend 20 minutes queuing in the German shops.
I’m always amazed at the speed of the person on check out in Lidl /Aldi. It’s so fast. They also say hi to you maybe have a very brief chat. Then I go to Tesco. About 99% of the times I’ve been in there there’s always a grumpy sod on checkout that sighs before beginning to checkout your goods. Never smiles at you but if one of their colleagues comes over it’s all shits and giggles. The 1% is usually a new person or a needle in a haystack.
That’s because they’re terrified they’ll lose their jobs if they fail to smile the requisite 4.5 inches and scan one item every 2.7 micro-seconds. At least Tesco lets them have an off-day.
Has anyone found that you’re almost taken aback when you get a friendly checkout operator in these stores? And that when you do come across one they are almost always foreign?? Its almost funny how downright rude some of the miserable Irish biddies (they are ALWAYS girls/women) are, say hello and they point blank ignore you, through change at you like you have leporasy and ignored again when you say “thank you”. Or leave you standing there while they b*tch & moan to a colleague for 5 mins. Dunnes Stores staff are the worst!!
Not exactly retail but I went into burgerking on Grafton street yesterday and encountered two surly slow Irish people employed there. Long queue. Gave up went next door to the much busier but queueless McDonald’s and got served instantly with a smile by a charming Polish person.
Can’t beat a shop with a clear, attractive layout. I honestly think this is a huge part of where Tesco fell down in recent years; shops with little order, dirty and unkept shelves etc. Good visual displays, friendly staff and organisation across the shop floor…that’s what retailers need to focus on.
I recently came across a small clothes shop in Charleville, Co. Cork. Contrary to popular belief that these shops are dying out, the shop was doing roaring trade. Why? The lady that owned the shop was passionate about clothes and buys a very wide range of styles that are appealing to young and old. She also used vintage couches and chairs to add to the boutique vibe she wanted to create. And she utilised social media very well, using case studies of ladies who came to her looking for a dress for a wedding or special occasion, along with competitions etc (she has over 27k FB fans…not bad going).
If small retailers want to survive, they have to interact as much as they can with the customer and not underestimate the importance of visual impact and genuine enthusiasm for their products.
What is the name of the shop?
Cherish, on the Cork side as you’re coming into town…well worth a look.
The rudeness of staff in most shops here in the town where I live is a disgrace.And in a restaurant you cannot complain if there is an issue with your food.Oh no.People accept every shyte .The customer is not king in Ireland.
The customer should be king.In shops.In pubs.In restaurants.Just like in America. Unfortunately the customer is far from being king here.The shopkeeper rules the waves.And since nobody complains..
Never ever go to the male checkout staff, slow as snails. Proof that women are multi-taskers and we men are not!
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