IBEC WANTS 'BALANCED' TRADE DEAL - World Trade Organisation talks re-start today in Geneva amidst hopes of a final deal on agriculture, industrial goods and services. The talks are expected to last at least a week. These talks, the Doha Round, began back in 2001.
The director of trade and international affairs at employers' group IBEC, Pat Ivory, said there needed to be a balanced deal within and between all sectors, focusing on the whole economy.
He said a deal would involve 'significant adjustments' for agriculture, but the farm deal on the table at the moment needed to be improved. Mr Ivory said that even within the agricultural part of the deal, there would be opportunities - such as increased access to the US food market - as well as costs.
Mr Ivory said the services part of the deal was critical for the Irish economy. This included areas such as banking, insurance, business and software services. He said the deal should focus on the total Irish economy, and not just one sector.
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NEWS AND CURRENCIES - The Financial Times reports that British Chancellor Alistair Darling is to scrap reforms on British taxation to tax UK companies om profits derived from foreign operations. The plans had caused much-publicised moves from Shire Pharmaceuticals and UBM to re-locate their headquarters to Ireland for tax purposes. The FT says Mr Darling has done a u-turn.
On the currency markets, the euro is worth $1.5860 and 79.6p sterling.
