Clearly these challenges will also be causing considerable stress and financial hardship for SME owners and staff, caused by the concerns about income, personal debt8 (including mortgage repayments), testing the resilience of all. Impact of COVID-19 Macro-Economic Effects Since the partial easing of restrictions in the summer, Irish economic activity has rebounded somewhat, in line with the re-opening of economy.
Overall, the ECB’s timely liquidity operations have contributed to ensure a smooth functioning of the short end of the money market without – of course – eliminating the causes of the tensions, originating outside the money market.