The iShares MSCI Ireland Capped Investable Market index (NYSEArca: EIRL) has been moving up since austerity measures have been implemented. Will the luck o’ the Irish return?
The Ireland exchange traded fund (ETF) could certainly use some good fortune as it holds a paltry $4.5 million in assets.
Ireland, which sought better terms on the $93.8 billion bailout it received last year, was rebuffed after refusing to contemplate raising its corporate tax rate. Ireland’s newly seated prime minister, Enda Kenny, did not want to entertain a change to the tax rate.
The Irish say their low corporate taxes—the rate is 12.5%–are central to luring foreign business to their soil and powering any economic recovery.[Ireland ETF Unmoved By Elections.] Since the bank stress-test announcements, the net deposit position of Irish banks has improved significantly, says Finfacts Team.
Minister for Finance Michael Noonan said over the period to 2013, in order to reconfigure their balance sheets and achieve acceptable loan-to-deposit ratios, the banks need to deliver their balance sheets in excess of €55bn of loans. As less money is being withdrawn from the pillars, Bank of Ireland and AIB, is this a sign that the worst is over for Ireland?
Donal O’Donovan for Independent IE reports that Ireland is now showing its best performance in a long time, and is in a different space than Portugal in terms of addressing fiscal woes and banking problems. The stress-test results and the decision to protect senior bondholders was boosting Ireland even as Portugal fell out of the market. [Europe ETFs: Portugal Rejects Austerity Measures.]
iShares MSCI Ireland
Tisha Guerrero contributed to this article.