Rising consumer prices means the ECB is on course to hike interest rates sometime in late 2019, even though borrowing costs will come too early for Greece and Italy, S&P Global Ratings has said.

The current political instability in Britain is likely to impact the country’s economic growth this year, said Standard & Poor’s chief economist for the European, Middle East and Africa.

Irish retail sales remained impressively strong amid a darkening European outlook last month with annual growth surging 11% in February.

THE cost of Ireland’s borrowing could shoot up early next year as the credit rating of the eurozone countries as a whole and the bailout fund we are reliant on are threatened with credit downgrades.