WEEK AHEAD WEEK 16

It is a relatively quiet week for set-piece economic data after last week’s raft of central banking and inflation data.

Eurostat is due to release euro area inflation (HICP) data for March on Wednesday.

On the home front, the CSO will have Agricultural Price Indices today, Goods Exports and Imports as well as Monthly Estimates of Payroll Employees using Administrative Data tomorrow, house prices on Wednesday and Government Finance Statistics – Annual Results on Friday.

The IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings 2024 take place in Washington from mid-week, where policymakers from around the world will share views on whether, how and when to undo the rate rises of recent years as well as discussing issues like global debt and the implications of artificial intelligence (AI).

World Bank president Ajay Banga said on Friday he plans to highlight a range of process improvements next week to speed up the development lender’s loan approvals, improve the accountability of its 16,000 employees and attract private capital to projects.

Mr Banga told reporters ahead of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund spring meetings that the development lender had reduced its average 19-month project approval time by about three months and would cut it by another three months by the middle of next year.

On the corporate side, luxury goods giant LVMH SE and Nordic telecommunication rivals Ericsson and Nokia will usher in Europe’s first-quarter reporting season next week.

Dutch semiconductor equipment-maker ASML Holding NV is likely to reveal slowing orders of its chip-making machines after the previous quarter’s record.

EssilorLuxottica SA, the Italo-French maker of Ray Ban and Oakley glasses, also reports.