Outstanding government bonds stood at €131bn in January

Outstanding government bonds stood at €131 billion in January 2018 due largely to the new issuance of a new €4 billion 10-year benchmark bond during the month, the Central Bank has said.

Within the next five years, €51.2 billion of government bonds will mature. Of this, €40.4 billion will mature in the next three years, with a further €10.8 billion in the following two years after. Non-residents hold 67.1 per cent of bonds maturing within the next three years.

Estimated non-resident holdings increased by €3.4 billion to €75.5 billion in January. Credit institutions and the Central Bank account for the largest amount of Irish resident holdings, at €52.5 billion. This equates to 94.6 per cent of the resident total.

The State’s debt agency drew €2.8 billion of bids from international investors for €1 billion of bonds it put on the market in an auction last week.

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The National Treasury Management Agency sold €500 million of bonds due in 2020, which were priced to carry an interest rate, or yield, of 0.109 per cent. It also sold €500 million of 10-year bonds, priced to yield 1.07 per cent.

This means the agency has sold €6.25 billion of bonds since the beginning of 2018, out of a full-year target of between €14 billion and €18 billion.