The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) said on Tuesday that it will raise between €6-€10 billlion from the bond markets in 2016, down from its target of €12-€15 billion for 2015.

In its statement, the state’s funding agency said it also intends to hold at least one syndicated bond deal during the year, and it will also continue to issue treasury bills during 2016.

Although the NTMA had pre-funded for the whole of 2015, it nonetheless raised €13 billion as of mid December. The exchequer is also sitting on significant cash reserves and as at end September 2015, it had € 15 billion of cash and other liquid assets.

During 2015 the agency sold the State’s first 30-year bond, some of which was issued at a super-low interest rate of 1.3 per cent, as Ireland’s cost of funding remained low. The yield on Irish 10-year debt today is about 1.09 per cent, down from a high of 12 per cent at the height of crisis in 2011.