State meets minimum 2017 debt-raising target

The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) took advantage of relative calm in financial markets early on Thursday to sell €1 billon of bonds, ahead a trio of events that has global investors on edge.

The State’s debt agency sold €700 million of bonds that are due to mature in 2026 and a further €300 million of 2045 securities, market sources said.

The latest auction means that the NTMA has now raised €9.35 billion through bond sales this year, exceeding the lower end of its targeted range between €9 billion and €13 billion.

The auction took place as European financial markets were mostly steady as investors braced themselves ahead of the European Central Bank’s latest monetary policy meeting on Thursday, former FBI director James Comey’s testimony before a US Senate committee investigating potential Russian interference in the presidential election last year, and as voting in the UK general election got under way.