State takes advantage with cheapest borrowing in history

Investors and banks across the world have handed the Irish State €1bn in free money and will effectively pay more again to keep it safe, as global markets continued to reel from the fallout of the Covid-19 outbreak.

It came as the National Treasury Management Agency — the State’s debt office — sold €1bn worth of debt that will be repayable in 2029 but at a negative interest rate of 0.15%, marking the cheapest borrowing in the history of the State.