Austin Hughes

Yeah, no, it's definitely the case.

There's been a rebound in agricultural prices, not just in Ireland, but globally.

And you're seeing that, as I say, in the meat prices and that poultry up seven and a half percent.

Our fishermen also doing a little bit better, 4.7 percent there, butter 10.2 percent.

So, yes, the farmers doing a little bit better after a couple of bad years previously.

But really, the story is of inflation creep right around the economy.

Clothing prices were down 7.5% a year ago.

They're up 4.4% this year.

So looking a little bit better for Christmas is going to be more expensive as well.

Yeah, it looks like the days of falling interest rates are behind us, you know, unless we see some very severe downturn in the economy at the moment.

But the noises coming from Frankfurt are increasingly saying things, rate cuts have ended and we won't be raising rates quite yet.

But mindful of what happened back in 2022,

They're probably saying we probably will raise rates reasonably early.

Now, that means the latter stages of next year, possibly even 2027.

But they don't want to fall behind the inflation curve significantly this time round.

Yes, they were a land of saints and savers because according to the CSO, Irish households saved one in seven euros they earned between June and September.

The household savings ratio rose to 14.8%.

from the long-term average is around 12%.

Now, it's not that we're squirreling money away.

The way this is calculated is that it's the gap between what we earn in household income and what we spend on consumer goods.