Speaking to the Oireachtas finance committee, Mr Makhlouf said that he wants a “much faster pass-through” of the monetary policy decisions made by the European Central Bank (ECB) since July 2022. “To date, Irish banks have lagged behind euro area banks in respect to pass-through of interest rate increases to the household sector,” said Mr Makhlouf. The increases came as the banks posted soaring profits following ECB interest rate hikes. Meanwhile, Mr Makhlouf cautioned that the upcoming budget should contain “targeted, tailored, and temporary” supports that do not add to inflation. He said that the economy is overall faring well amid a volatile interest rate environment, due in part to a “much more special relationship with the US than the UK thinks it has”.

Source: Irish Examiner September 21, 2023 07:06 UTC