NTMA to proceed with sale of €1.5bn debt

THE National Treasury Management Agency is determined to press ahead with the sale of €1.5 billion in fresh Government debt next Tuesday, despite interest rates on Government debt hitting record highs yesterday.

Finance Minister Brian Lenihan and the International Monetary Fund moved yesterday to sooth investor fears that Ireland’s sovereign debt crisis is deepening, after a newspaper report on the possibility of an IMF bailout sent investors running for cover.

The Department of Finance said there is “no truth in a rumour” that the Government may ask for IMF intervention and said this was based on a “local misinterpretation of a research report”.