The Finance Minister has welcomed the successful re-entry of Ireland into the 10-year bond market today.
The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) has raised €3.75 billion in an auction today, after investors offered to lend Ireland nearly four-times more than it was asking for.
Investors had offered to buy over €14 billion of Irish debts in the auction this morning.
Ireland will pay an interest rate of just over 3.5% to borrow the money for 10 years.
The Minister for Finance Michael Noonan said "This sale shows that Ireland has fully exited the EU-IMF Programme of Assistance. The yield of 3.54% illustrates the strength of Ireland’s international reputation and brings us far closer to the borrowing rates of the strongest European economies".
"The level of demand for today’s sale with some €14 billion of orders shows that the Government’s decision to exit the EU – IMF Programme without a precautionary credit line has built strong confidence amongst investors".
"It is particularly noteworthy that the orders of €14 billion for today’s sale exceed the €10 billion that could have been available under a precautionary programme" he added.
Markets Correspondent with the Sunday Business Post is John Ihle. He says the rate of interest Ireland will pay is not much more than the interest paid by Germany.
