Coronavirus: State borrows €650m at cheapest ever rate for a 30-year bond

The State raised €650m at a cost of just over 0.79% - in the cheapest ever borrowing for a 30-year bond in its history as the Government prepares to borrow billions more to take account of the huge escalation in welfare and healthcare spending and the slump in its tax revenues.

The Government has to fill an exchequer deficit of up to €30bn this year - a turnaround from the small budget surplus last year - as the Covid-19 emergency crashed all previous budget calculations.