The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) has scheduled an auction of Irish government bonds for June 8th, only its second of the year.
The State agency is looking to raise between €7 billion and €11 billion from debt markets this year, a lower target range than recent years due to a number of factors, including a projected budget surplus and reduced borrowing requirements in the aftermath of the pandemic.
In early March the NTMA sold €800 million of bonds that are due to mature in 2037 with a market interest rate, or yield, of 3.37 per cent, the highest rate the NTMA has had to pay since it sold 10-year bonds in early 2014 at a 3.54 per cent rate.
That bond auction also saw the NTMA sell €450 million of 10-year bonds, priced at a yield of 3.13 per cent, marginally higher than the 3.11 per cent rate it paid in January to get a 20-year so-called green bonds issuance away.
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In an early test of the market the agency also raised €3.5 billion in a syndicated green bond sale in January, meaning it has already raised close to two-thirds of the lower end of its target range for the year.
Borrowing costs for governments have been rising globally as central banks raise interest rates in their efforts to tame high inflation.
