Private holder of Irish debt still bullish on economy

The largest private sector holder of Irish sovereign debt, Franklin Templeton’s Michael Hasenstab, is still bullish on the Irish economy.

Mr Hasenstab is the chief investment officer of the California-based fund, which has been building up a €6bn position in Irish government debt over the past 16 months.

In an interview with the online magazine Barrons over the weekend, he said his firm was holding onto its Irish debt and will “opportunistically add exposure”.