Ireland is set to raise €500 million in short-term treasury bills on Thursday, March 10th.
The auction for the bonds, which have a six-month maturity, will open at 8.30 am, and is restricted to primary dealers.
Last month, the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) raised € 1 billion in the 2026 bond, raising funds at a yield of 0.999 per cent. The NTMA received offers of € 1.8 billion, meaning the issue was 1.8 times covered.
The February issue followed a €3 billion syndicated issue of the new 2026 bond in January, and the NTMA won’t be issuing long-term debt again this quarter. The NTMA is already fully funded for 2016.
There had been a concern that the uncertain outcome in the general election could spook international investors, leading to a sell-off in Irish bonds and an increase in the cost of funding for the sovereign.
However, Irish 10-year bonds were yielding just 0.92 per cent this morning, at a spread of 71 basis points to German bunds. The yield on Spain’s 10-year bonds was 1.54 per cent this morning, while Portugal stood at 2.93 per cent and Greece at 10.08 per cent. Benchmark German 10-year bund yields fell three basis points to 0.20 percent.
