The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) laid out a schedule for its debt sales for the first quarter of the year as it seeks to raise up to €14 billion from the international bond markets in 2022.

That marks a decline of up to 46 per cent on the amount raised last year as the Government’s Covid-related spending eases.

A spokesman for the agency did not say how much it planned to raise in the first quarter. However, the NTMA said it is launching a new government bond by syndication in January. That can typically mean raising at least €3 billion through the transaction. In January last year the NTMA raised €5.5 billion through a syndicated bond sale.

The agency is also planning a bond auction in March, with sales of treasury bills – shorter-term debt maturing in under a year – planned for February and March.

Further details of the bond and bill auctions will be announced closer to the sales.