Government ‘satisfied’ Nama debts are off balance sheet

The Government is “satisfied” that Nama’s debts will not be brought onto the Government’s balance sheet, according to a Finance Ministry spokeswoman.

Eurostat, the EU statistics office, allowed the State to keep Nama off the balance sheet after it sold a 51% stake in a so-called Nama special purpose vehicle in 2010 to a group of private investors, including Irish Life Investment Managers — a unit of Irish Life Assurance.

Eurostat is now querying whether the arrangement can continue, as the State is taking 100% control of Irish life Assurance, according to a newspaper report yesterday.