NTMA chief hails €2.5bn bond sale

The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) has said that says Ireland is making considerable progress in its phased return to the markets.

The NTMA stated in its 2012 Results and Business Review that it raised €2.5bn in a sale of five-year bonds yesterday.

The agency's chief executive John Corrigan praised the success of the debt auction.

The NTMA said that it plans to step up its market re-engagement this year to ensure Ireland is positioned to exit the bailout deal.

Mr Corrigan said that a failure to secure a deal on Ireland's banking debt would not be a positive development for that process.

“Achieving a quarter of our funding plan for 2013 with yesterday’s bond sale is a very encouraging start to the year,” said Mr Corrigan.

“The progressive reduction of the January 2014 “funding cliff” has been viewed positively by the investment community and, allied to the fact that it demonstrates that we can raise funds in the market, has been a contributory factor to the fall in Irish bond yields.”

”Ireland’s consistent delivery on its EU/IMF programme commitments has been central to the fall in bond yields.

”Nonetheless, Ireland’s continuing access to the international bond markets also remains critically dependent on external factors, particularly developments at a wider eurozone level.”