In Short

A roundup of today's other news stories in brief

Ibec predicts growth will stay sluggish

Economic growth is slowing down and will remain sluggish in 2008, according to the latest outlook from Ibec.

The business association's chief economist David Croughan said yesterday that GDP growth would probably fall to just below 3.5 per cent next year.

Mr Croughan called on Minister for Finance Brian Cowen to contain growth in current spending in light of the expected shortfall in tax receipts for the year.

The governor of the Central Bank, John Hurley, has meanwhile repeated comments he made last week, indicating that it is too early for the European Central Bank to assess the impact of recent market upheaval on interest rates.

Addressing a business lunch in Dublin, Mr Hurley said it was impossible to say how long it would be before markets "fully return to their normal functioning".

Computer chain's €3.5m expansion

Cantec Computerstores, the computer accessories chain, is investing €3.5 million to expand its business with the opening of 14 new outlets.

The company, which is also changing its name to Click.ie, expects to create 100 new jobs over the coming three years.

The first new store opened in Gorey, Co Wexford, last week. By 2010, the company hopes to have 20 stores employing more than 170 people. It currently has 70 outlets and more than 70 staff.

Volatility hits Pensions Fund

The National Pensions Reserve Fund (NPRF) lost almost 1 per cent of its value in the third quarter of the year, as volatility in global markets in July and August took its toll on the fund and prompted it to diversify into property and private equity.

Despite the third-quarter fall, the fund, which will be used to meet the costs of social welfare and public service pensions from 2025 onwards, has recorded an investment return of 5.9 per cent for the first nine months of the year and now stands at a value of almost €21.3 billion.

The fund has committed a further €156 million to three private equity vehicles and €35 million to a property vehicle.

Treasury bond oversubscribed

A National Treasury Management Agency €6 billion bond issue was heavily oversubscribed yesterday, with demand worth €16 billion for the Irish Government bond coming from 150 investors across Europe.

The October 2018 notes, paying 4.5 per cent interest, were priced to yield 15 basis points more than benchmark German bonds.

The 10-year bond was the first new Government bond in three years and is the first euro syndicated benchmark offering.

Executive defends Northern Rock

Northern Rock could have been spared the worst of a crisis that has engulfed it in the past month if it had access to the same funding as US and European rivals, the bank's chief executive said yesterday.

In the highest-profile grilling of Northern Rock executives since its near-collapse, Adam Applegarth told a parliamentary committee that its board had offered to resign but agreed to stay in place to steer the bank to a takeover or other outcome in the coming months. - (Financial Times service)