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The Briefcase: Rouble the new lira, a banking inquiry and the Metro Herald is kaput
This was the week in business.
EVERY WEEKEND, TheJournal.ie asks its readers to put their feet up and take a look back at all the goings-on from the world of business.
So once again it’s time to delve deep inside The Briefcase for all the important – and sometimes less-important – financial news that has come out this working week:
Need to know
The rouble is the new lira
A “perfect storm” of plummeting oil prices, Western sanctions and the general Europe-wide economic malaise has sent the poor old rouble skidding over the past year – and into free-fall in the last month.
The Russian currency lost 20% in one day – even after the the country’s central bank hiked interest rates overnight a massive 6.5% to 17% in a bid to put the brakes on rampant inflation.
That problem has already led to everything from Apple closing its online store for the country to people, somewhat ironically, stocking up on US dollars and reports of locals panic-buying food staples.
The country has already shelled out about $80 billion in foreign cash this year trying to shore up its currency by buying it on the international markets. But that wasn’t enough, hence the central bank’s last, extreme move.
And with that move came a blunt message from the official lender’s chief, Elvira Nabiullina – basically telling the country to “suck it up”.
But the rouble’s woes had markets getting skittish all over the place from the knock-on effects, which included Switzerland setting a negative interest rate for some deposits after the Russian currency crisis herded investors into the safe-haven Swiss franc.
None of that apparently bothered the good folks who responded to a poll from the Public Opinion Foundation, who named Putin “Man of the Year” for the 15th time in a row.
Some 68% said he was the most deserving politician to take the title, according to Russia Today, beating the second-highest contingent on 17% – those who found the question too hard to answer.
Nice to know
- The banking inquiry finally got under way a bit over 6 years after the government’s controversial decision to offer a blanket, €440 billion guarantee for the entire Irish banking system. The European Central Bank (ECB) has already made clear its plan not to turn up – although Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said he will ask ECB president Mario Draghi anyway. Meanwhile, the inquiry heard from its first witness, Peter Nyberg, who previously put together a report on the bank collapse
- The Metro Herald put out its last edition after nearly 10 years on the streets of Dublin. And staff were having a bit of craic – despite being in the final hours of their jobs, not to mention the jobs of the many workers who handed out the papers each day. Its publisher, Fortunegreen, blamed the “prolonged recession and an evolving media landscape” for the closure
Now you know
- Bad bank Nama was called before another Oireachtas committee, which was told the agency might end up paying bonuses to “a few” developers it was working with this year. It was also revealed the government could have saved €1 million on a Nama hotel to house the homeless, while concerns were raised over the amount of grief the Nama process was putting families through
- A complaint against RTÉ Radio One for a show hosted by comedian Brendan O’Carroll which talked about same-sex marriage was rejected. The broadcast watchdog said there was no “absolute requirement” that programmes featured people on two sides of every debate
- Irish Water could punch a big hole in the government’s budget, according to economic think-tank ESRI. That’s because the quango was making less money on its water charges – and would have to be propped up with more spending. There was also the chance it wouldn’t meet the European Commission’s market test, especially with the number of people saying they wouldn’t pay at all
- Iconic Dublin chipper Leo Burdock’s launched a €50,000 crowd-lending campaign to expand its Temple Bar outlet. The 101-year-old fish and chip chain is running the scheme, which allows anyone to offer the company on loan for interest of between 5% and 15%, through Linked Finance
One for the road
For many, the words “gripping” and “podcast” would rarely be found rubbing shoulders in the same sentence. Until the true-crime thriller Serial appeared courtesy of the people at This American Life, that is.
Ahead of the release this week of its 12th and final episode, the people at Funny or Die worked up this glorious parody – in which the show’s producer, Sarah Koenig, desperately tries to come up with an ending.
Oh, there’s a nice dig about email marketing firm MailChimp in there as well.
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/6ab2d45a77/the-last-episode-of-serial
Originally published 20 December
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