Pension reserve in positive territory

The National Pension Reserve Fund is back in profit as a 12.87% gain on investments in 2003 wiped out losses sustained in the previous year.

The Fund was valued at €9.556bn at the end of 2003, compared with €7.426bn at the end of 2002, according to its annual results, published by the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) earlier this week.

Benefiting from the upturn in global markets in 2003, the Fund said it would continue its policy of gradually building up its equity holdings this year.

Taking into account the Exchequer contribution of €1.103bn, there was an appreciation of €1.027bn in the Fund's investments last year.

The NTMA figures show that the national debt increased by €1.78bn last year, bringing the total to €38.1bn.

The debt to GDP ratio is at 34.8% the second lowest in the EU.