Government debt down to 99.4% of GDP in third quarter

Government debt fell to 99.4 per cent of GDP at the end of the third quarter of 2015, according to new figures published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

This compares to a debt level of 102.1 per cent of GDP three months earlier and marks the first time debt has fallen below the 100 per cent mark since the bailout.

Ireland’s debt-to-GDP ratio hit a high of 132.2 per cent in 2013.

The latest data show Government debt of €204.2 billion at the end of the third quarter. The fall in the ratio versus the second quarter is largely attributed to a rise in GDP during the period under review.

Government debt was €166 billion or 80.8 per cent of GDP at the end of September, the figures show. This is an improvement on the ratio which was 83 per cent of GDP in June.

The Government recorded a deficit of €3.9 billion of GDP for the first nine months of the year, compared to a deficit of €6.1 billion for the same period a year earlier.

The deficit for the third quarter was €1.2 billion, adding to a deficit of €2.7 billion for the first half of 2015.

Government revenue in the period from July to September totalled €16.2 billion, up €755 million on the same three months in 2014.