The Government has raised €750m in in a bond auction.
The yield on the 0.8pc 2022 treasury bonds was 0.157pc with bid/cover of 2.6.
It was conducted by the National Treasury Management agency and was the first auction since the formation of the news government.
Last month the NTMA auctioned off another €750m worth of bonds at record low interest rates with investors disregarding political uncertainty surrounding the formation of the Government at the time.
April’s NTMA auction was the first since the inconclusive election earlier in the year.
Bonds were sold with an interest rate of 0.817pc, down significantly on the 1pc yield associated with similar bonds auctioned in February.
In March the NTMA issued its first ever 100-year government bond at an ultra-low rate of 2.35pc. The bond was sold by private placement through Goldman Sachs International Bank and Nomura.
The sale of the 100-year bond was largely viewed as a big vote of confidence in Ireland as a sovereign issuer.
At the time the NTMA said it had received “significant positive feedback” from the sale.
Since then the NTMA has said it remains open to more sales similar to the 100-year bond.
So far the State-controlled NTMA has sold €4.75bn worth of bonds, placing it on track to meet its target for the year of between €6bn and €10bn.
Another auction of treasury bills is set to take place on June 16.
Outside of bond sales the NTMA also controls the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), which has recently pledged €54m in long-term funding to Dublin City University.
ISIF director Eugene O’Callaghan said education was a key part of the country’s competitiveness.
“We have also utilised one of the Fund’s key differentiating features – our long-term investment horizon – to facilitate significant parallel funding by the European Investment Bank.”
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