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The Minister for Finance & Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe TD, has this afternoon (Friday) welcomed statements from the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) and Revenue Commissioners, which seek to give clarity and reassurance to those businesses and households who may be impacted by the outbreak of COVID-19.

Revenue has outlined a number of measures, dealing with, among other things, VAT returns and tax clearance certs, as well as detailing advice aimed at assisting SMEs who may be experiencing cash-flow and trading difficulties as a result of the impact of COVID-19.

Similarly, the CBI has outlined the impact the measures announced by the ECB yesterday should have on those businesses and households who may be experiencing disruption as a result of the spread of the virus. The Bank will continue to monitor the situation to ensure that the financial system has the ability to respond to the needs of businesses and citizens during this time.

For its part, the Department of Finance has, in the absence of the availability of timely information on the real economy, undertaken to monitor daily financial market data to assess the expected development on the broader economy. This covers financial market indicators such as the main equity markets, selected sovereign bond yields, exchange rates and oil prices along with key leading economic indicators such as purchasing managers indices (PMIs), retail sales, car sales and aggregate tax receipts.

Minister Donohoe said:

I welcome the statements by the CBI and the Revenue Commissioners this morning outlining the measures that are being introduced at a national and international level to ensure that the negative impact of the fall-out from this disease are minimised. Acknowledging people’s concerns is the first step in assuaging them. People should be reassured that Ireland is coming at this from a position of strength and that everything that can be done is being done to deal with this public health crisis. We can, and we will, get through this.

It is true to say that both the societal and economic response to the COVID – 19 outbreak is evolving rapidly. However, this is not reflected in the available economic data. Data on economic developments is published with a lag – which can extend to be weeks or months depending on the indicator. With this in mind, my Department will be publishing a chartpack of a range of financial market data each month on the Department’s website for the foreseeable future. This will ensure that we have access to the most timely information possible, allowing us to make the most informed and best decisions for all of our people.