ISSUE 1 - OCTOBER 2020
Message from
Roisin Crotty Head of County for Bank of Ireland Kildare
“I hope that you, your families and your customers are safe and well in these difficult times. At Bank of Ireland our focus is on building strong relationships with our customers and their advisors. We have a team of 90 staff on the ground in Kildare across 11 locations. We are members of our communities and have years of experience in dealing with every facet of both business and personal financial needs. In this update I will give you an overview of our recent Economic Outlook and our latest Economic Pulse survey. I also outline some of the supports available to you, particularly the recently launched COVID-19 Credit Guarantee Scheme, and I encourage you to reach out to any of our advisors across the County for support as we navigate through these challenging times together in Kildare.”
Bank of Ireland Economic Pulse up in September – has now recovered almost 60% of COVID-related losses Sentiment slumped in March as COVID-19 arrived on Irish shores and began to disrupt normal every-day and commercial life, while April saw an unparalleled fall in activity and sweeping job losses as the country went into full lockdown. But with the public health situation improving and a phased re-opening of the economy underway since mid-May, the economic data point to the beginnings of a rebound over the remainder of the year and into 2021. Even so, the scale of the shock – GDP is forecast to contract by 7.0% in 2020 as a whole – is such that it will take time for the damage to the economy to unwind, with output unlikely to return to its pre-crisis level until 2022. The path of the virus remains uncertain and the recovery process may not be smooth as physical distancing requirements and behavioural changes will impact some business models more than others and some households will take longer to get back on their feet. 14
