11% of tax to be spent on national debt

IRELAND will spend close to €3.5 billion – 11% of all tax collected – servicing a national debt of close to €92 billion this year, according to Bloxham Stockbrokers.

The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) raised a further €1bn in what appears to be its most successful bond auction so far this year, drawing bids of three to four times the bonds on offer, sending the premium demanded by investors for holding Irish debt to the lowest since mid-June.

As the national debt screams past the €66bn mark, heading for €92bn by the end of the year, it is expected that 11% of all tax collected will be needed to cover interest payments this year, jumping to 16%, on Goodbody estimates, next year and up from just 4.5% of all tax collected in 2007.