Cowen determined to raise market confidence in Ireland

The Taoiseach Brian Cowen has said he is determined to ensure that international money markets have confidence in Ireland.

Mr Cowen's comments come as the latest round of borrowing completed on behalf of the Government saw high interest rates charged.

The National Treasury Management Agency today raised €1.5bn worth of fresh borrowings in a successful but expensive auction.

Mr Cowen says he's happy with the sale of bonds:

The NTMA today borrowed a €1bn to be paid back in eight years with an interest rate of just over 6%.

Another half a billion is to be paid back in four years and saw an interest rate of 4.7% demanded.

While these are less than the record highs being demanded for a ten-year loan, they remain quite high.

But the auction of these bonds was oversubscribed by about 3.5 times.

The money markets have been hostile to Ireland for weeks now, and the Taoiseach says the Government has to change that with the pre-Budget outlook next month.

He said he is also listening to the analysis of the bond markets and not the Opposition.

Fine Gael's Leo Varadkar is claiming many of those who bought Irish bonds this morning may also have had their bonds in Anglo Irish Bank guaranteed by the State, and that the purchasers can look forward to very healthy returns.