Latest news with #PaschalDonohoe
Irish Examiner
9 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Euro zone finance ministers recommend Bulgaria adopt euro in 2026
Euro zone finance ministers recommended on Thursday that Bulgaria become the 21st member of the euro zone starting January 1, 2026, backing earlier positive assessments of the country's readiness from the European Commission and the European Central Bank. "The Eurogroup agreed today that Bulgaria fulfils all the necessary conditions to adopt the euro," Paschal Donohoe, who chairs meetings of euro zone finance ministers, told a press conference. The recommendation will now be formally adopted by all 27 EU finance ministers on Friday and then by EU leaders on June 26. The exchange rate at which the Bulgarian lev will be converted into euro will be set by EU finance ministers at their meeting in early July, giving Bulgaria six months to prepare the technical transition for the start of the year. Bulgaria has been striving to switch its lev to the euro since it joined the European Union in 2007. But after such a long wait, many Bulgarians have lost their initial enthusiasm, with 50% now sceptical about the euro, according to a Eurobarometer poll in May. Some Bulgarians fear the currency switch will drive up prices. Criteria To get the positive recommendation, Bulgaria had to meet the inflation criterion, which says that the euro candidate cannot have consumer inflation higher than 1.5 percentage points above the three best EU performers. In April, the best performers were France with 0.9%, Cyprus with 1.4% and Denmark with 1.5%, which put Bulgaria with its 2.8% just within the limit. The euro candidate country also cannot be under the EU's disciplinary budget procedure for running a deficit in excess of 3% of GDP. Bulgaria meets this criterion with a budget deficit of 3% in 2024 and 2.8% expected in 2025. The country's public debt of 24.1% of GDP in 2024 and 25.1% expected in 2025 is well below the maximum level of 60%, and its long-term interest rate on bonds is well within the two-percentage-point margin above the rate at which the three best inflation performers borrow. Finally, Bulgaria had to prove it had a stable exchange rate by staying within a 15% margin on either side of a central parity rate in the Exchange Rate Mechanism II. This was easily done because Bulgaria has been running a currency board that fixed the lev to the euro at 1.95583 since the start of the euro currency in 1999. Bulgaria's euro adoption will come three years after the last euro zone expansion, when Croatia joined the single currency grouping at the start of 2023. The accession of Bulgaria into the euro zone will leave only six of the 27 EU countries outside the single currency area: Sweden, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Denmark. None of them has any immediate plans to adopt the euro either for political reasons or because they do not meet the required economic criteria. Reuters.
Irish Times
11 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Micheál Martin and Paschal Donohoe are responsible for this Government's lethargy
The Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance are the key members of this Government, but they are hardly its driving force. These dynamics matter because we have a Government with power but so far neither the will nor the cohesion to deliver. All the while the world is changing rapidly and our exposure to events is growing. Micheál Martin scooped the entire electoral dividend available to the two Government parties in the last election. He has complete mastery over Fianna Fáil , but having arrived where he wanted to be over decades, he now seems unable to exercise power effectively. Paschal Donohoe is the principal Fine Gael presence in Cabinet by default. He is the crutch his leader Simon Harris reached for in a disastrous election campaign. He is indispensable in a diminished Fine Gael , yet he seems unable to exert the fiscal discipline and effective delivery of infrastructure the country needs. READ MORE Harris was permanently damaged by that election campaign and he still confuses creating distraction with effective action. Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers has a claim to consideration as a force at the centre of Government. It is too soon to say for sure, but nothing yet indicates he is. The annual National Economic Dialogue on Monday offered a good analysis of the challenges we face . Tariffs and the fragmentation of the global trading system could have far-reaching consequences for the Irish economy. Foreign-owned multinationals account for 84 per cent of corporation tax revenue and around half of income tax and VAT paid by all companies in Ireland. The narrowness of our tax base means that €9 in every €10 received last year came from income tax, corporation tax and VAT. Unlike other rich countries, , we don't do any other taxes on property or wealth in scale sufficient to make a real contribution or to provide a cushion in a downturn. That is a mistake we have made before and will regret again. Worse, this Government has shrunk our domestic tax base further. In 2019, 30 per cent of income earners did not pay income tax or USC. This year that is expected to rise to 33 per cent. This would not pass for prudence in Las Vegas. In the meantime the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council estimates that Ireland's infrastructure is 25 per cent lower than average for a high-income European country. Inadequacies in water supply, sewerage and the electricity grid are barriers to building homes. Government spending more than doubled in a decade. This year spending is rapidly outpacing what was provided for in the budget last October and, oddly, the Department of Public Expenditure is not publishing monthly expenditure reports. Opening the National Economic Dialogue, the Taoiseach warned of 'unprecedented challenges', called for 'courage and ambition' and said we must prepare by 'controlling the controllables'. But what is out of control is under his authority. This is the cumulation of a decade-long, ongoing spending splurge and the failure to reform or lead the public sector. Donohoe is the continuous thread in the decline of purpose in our economic management, which, aside from our response to Covid-19, characterises that time. He accommodated skilfully under three party leaders and made the improbable plausible at a cost to the country. He seems unwilling and unavailable to engage in the combat required for cultural change and fiscal discipline in a system he too seldom challenged. In contrast to Donohoe, whose highest promotion may still be ahead, politically this is the moment of maximum Micheál Martin. Apart from 10 days in January 2011 after he resigned from Brian Cowen's cabinet and before he became leader of Fianna Fáil, he has been on his party's front bench for 30 years, its leader for 14 and in government for 19 in all. He has served his ambition by laying off risk rather than taking it on. Constantly frustrated by the system he presides over, he is also unwilling to take it on. His department is no longer the control room of that wider system which openly disparages the departments of Public Expenditure and Housing as institutionally inadequate. But the Taoiseach will not take control. Off-laying responsibility rather than taking on risk is his preferred route, Ministers – not the Taoiseach – are made to be collateral damage. By dint of dysfunction, we have an asymmetrical power structure in Government that intensifies the limitations of its principals. There are pockets of energy in departments such as Health, Justice, Higher Education and Enterprise. But as a whole, it is characterised by lethargy. Watching each other is preferred to working together. Our best hope is that another crisis might provoke an adequate response.
UPI
12 hours ago
- Business
- UPI
Eurogroup paves way for Bulgaria to adopt euro
June 19 (UPI) -- European finance ministers on Thursday recommended that Bulgaria become the 21st member of the Eurogroup, paving the way for the Eastern European nation to adopt the euro currency. The Eurogroup finance ministers agreed to Bulgaria's accession based on earlier positive assessments by the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, and the European Central Bank. "This is a well-deserved achievement for Bulgaria, Paschal Donohoe, president of the Eurogroup, said during a press conference following Thursday's Eurogroup meeting. "It is an acknowledgment of the commitment, the significant convergence process that has been undertaken and the enormous work by the Bulgarian authorities. It's also a really good signal for the strength of our monetary union." The recommendation proposes that Bulgaria introduce the euro as its currency on Jan. 1. The acceptance of the recommendation is the first step toward achieving that goal, with the EU Council now needing to adopt additional legal acts to enable Bulgaria to become a Eurogroup member. The recommendation is now set for adoption by all 27 EU finance ministers on Friday, followed by all EU leaders on June 27. Then, the European Council is expected adopt the three legal acts necessary to enable Bulgaria to introduce the euro by next month.
Irish Independent
14 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Independent
Revenue bill for storing and managing ‘drug ship' now totals €9.11m
That is according to new figures provided by the Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe who said that it is costing the Revenue Commissioners on average €120,000 per week to maintain and store the ship. The MV Matthew was seized on September 26, 2023, in a dramatic drugs operation off the south coast. On board gardaí and Revenue Customs officers found 2.2 tonnes of cocaine worth an estimated €157m. Eight men have pleaded guilty to offences arising from the drugs seizure and are due to be sentenced at the Special Criminal Court on July 4. The ship remains at Cork Harbour and in a written Dáil reply to Séamus McGrath (FF) on the costings, Mr Donohoe provided a breakdown of the €9.11m bill to the Revenue Commissioners from September 26, 2023, to the end of May. Mr Donohoe said: 'In relation to the costs, taking account of all payments made and charges pending, Revenue estimates that the average weekly cost of managing and maintaining the vessel is in the order of €120,000 per week.' He told the Cork South Central TD that the €9.11m bill is made up of €3.43m in crewing, €3.6m in maintenance and €2.07m in berthing, unberthing and movement of the vessel. He added that the maintenance costs included costs such as ship's stores and provisions, bunkering fuel, waste removal, miscellaneous repairs and maintenance, agent and professional fees and insurance. The Finance Minister stated that the bidding process for the sale of the MV Matthew by the Revenue Commissioners was concluded in the first quarter of 2025 and a preferred bidder was identified. He said that the Special Criminal Court on December 2, 2024, authorised the release of the MV Matthew, thereby facilitating its disposal. Mr Donohoe stated that 'I am assured by Revenue that the disposal of this vessel is a key priority and all necessary steps to complete its disposal as expeditiously as possible are being undertaken. 'The regulatory requirements as they apply to the MV Matthew are complex and ensuring compliance with these regulatory requirements is time consuming. Due to the complexities of the regulatory framework, it may be a further number of months before the disposal of the vessel will be completed,' he added.
Reuters
21 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
Euro zone finance ministers recommend Bulgaria adopt euro in 2026
BRUSSELS, June 19 (Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers recommended on Thursday that Bulgaria become the 21st member of the euro zone starting January 1, 2026, backing earlier positive assessments of the country's readiness from the European Commission and the European Central Bank. "The Eurogroup agreed today that Bulgaria fulfils all the necessary conditions to adopt the euro," Paschal Donohoe, who chairs meetings of euro zone finance ministers, told a press conference. The recommendation will now be formally adopted by all 27 EU finance ministers on Friday and then by EU leaders on June 26. The exchange rate at which the Bulgarian lev will be converted into euro will be set by EU finance ministers at their meeting in early July, giving Bulgaria six months to prepare the technical transition for the start of the year. Bulgaria has been striving to switch its lev to the euro since it joined the European Union in 2007. But after such a long wait, many Bulgarians have lost their initial enthusiasm, with 50% now sceptical about the euro, according to a Eurobarometer poll in May. Some Bulgarians fear the currency switch will drive up prices. To get the positive recommendation, Bulgaria had to meet the inflation criterion, which says that the euro candidate cannot have consumer inflation higher than 1.5 percentage points above the three best EU performers. In April, the best performers were France with 0.9%, Cyprus with 1.4% and Denmark with 1.5%, which put Bulgaria with its 2.8% just within the limit. The euro candidate country also cannot be under the EU's disciplinary budget procedure for running a deficit in excess of 3% of GDP. Bulgaria meets this criterion with a budget deficit of 3% in 2024 and 2.8% expected in 2025. The country's public debt of 24.1% of GDP in 2024 and 25.1% expected in 2025 is well below the maximum level of 60%, and its long-term interest rate on bonds is well within the two-percentage-point margin above the rate at which the three best inflation performers borrow. Finally, Bulgaria had to prove it had a stable exchange rate by staying within a 15% margin on either side of a central parity rate in the Exchange Rate Mechanism II. This was easily done because Bulgaria has been running a currency board that fixed the lev to the euro at 1.95583 since the start of the euro currency in 1999. Bulgaria's euro adoption will come three years after the last euro zone expansion, when Croatia joined the single currency grouping at the start of 2023. The accession of Bulgaria into the euro zone will leave only six of the 27 EU countries outside the single currency area: Sweden, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Denmark. None of them have any immediate plans to adopt the euro either for political reasons or because they do not meet the required economic criteria.
