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The motor industry pulled off a coup in 2012, when it persuaded the government to change the registration system for vehicles. Up to then, the format YY-County-Number changed once a year, in January. The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) pointed out that this meant the vast majority of new car sales happened early in the year. The Department of Transport agreed a change to twice-yearly, as a way to stimulate the market.
This is why “12” is the last two-digit year you see on Irish vehicles, with the following year featuring 131 and 132. It has helped to distributes sales more evenly throughout the year, with a second spike in July when the number changes.
On Wednesday, the Central Statistics Office will give a figure for the number of vehicles licensed for the first time in July. Those of you sitting on a beach with little to do could compare the figure with sales from last January, in order to work out how much more popular the 251 registration number was in its first month compared with that of the 252.
Given the intensity of the debate about the rising cost of groceries, and who is to blame, the CSO’s release on Thursday of agricultural prices is worth watching. Beef and dairy prices, in particular, have been increasing steadily, and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has reported that farm-gate prices went up by more than 19pc in the last year.
On Friday, we will get the export and import figures for June. There was a spike in exports to America in the first quarter of the year, as US buyers tried to get ahead of the tariff regime being threatened by president Donald Trump. Sales subsided in April and May, and our guess is that trend may have continued.
Results will be reported tomorrow by the British bookmaker Entain, the owner of the Ladbrokes and Coral brands. The following day we get Q2 results from Glanbia, the nutrition supplement maker, whose share price jumped in April after its first-quarter figures were better than analysts expected.
The Central Bank of Ireland will publish retail interest rates on Wednesday, showing the average rates offered by banks for loans and savings. Savers in this country have been getting some of the lowest returns in the eurozone, with the demand deposit rates offered by the three main banks hovering between 0.01pc and 0.25pc.
Finally, on Thursday, the CSO produces quarterly figures on productivity in Ireland. In this, the second week of August, our guess is that productivity will be at a quarterly low.
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