€14bn Apple tax fund could lose €70m this year

The escrow account in which the €14bn Apple fines are being held is set to lose €70m this year because of negative interest rates, the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) has warned.

Seamus McCarthy, in his report, said the National Treasury Management Agency estimates that in the current negative interest rate environment, the escrow fund could decline by 0.5% per annum. “On a €14bn fund, this would amount to a loss of c. €70m per annum,” states the report.