State raises €750m at negative rate of 0.51%

The State’s debt management agency raised €750 million at a negative rate of 0.51 per cent, meaning investors will get repaid less than they lend.

The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) auctioned the short term debt, known as treasury bills, which will mature on December 14th this year.

In total, the NTMA received bids of €2.23 billion, three times the amount on offer.

Treasury bills form a small part of the State’s borrowing programme. The NTMA said it will issue between €20 billion and €24 billion of debt this year, but treasury bills are not included in those figures which relate to longer-term debt.

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The bills offer investors an alternative product to longer-term debt which can take many years to mature.

A treasury bill auction took place in May and saw record demand. The bills were priced to yield investors minus 0.43 per cent.