State plans auction of €750m of short-term debt

The State is to auction up to €750 million of short-term treasury bills this week, according to the National Treasury Management Agency.

The auction will take place on August 20th, with the debt due to mature in February 2021.

The agency plans to raise a total of between €20 billion and €24 billion of long-term funding this year, mainly to help the Government deal with the health and economic costs of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This relates to longer-term debt and does not include treasury bills, which form only a small part of the State’s borrowing programme. The bills are used to provide governments with short-term liquidity, with long-term bond markets funding budget shortfalls and debt refinancings.

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Last month's auction enabled the State to raise €750 million at a negative rate of 0.51 per cent, meaning investors will get repaid less than they lend. Ireland has been selling treasury bills at a negative rate since late 2015, taking advantage of a low interest rate environment.