The National Treasury Management Agency successfully auctioned €500 million worth of Treasury bills today.

In a statement, the NTMA said the auction received bids which totalled €1.8 billion, more than three times the amount on offer.

The bills were sold at an annualised yield of 0.7 per cent and have a maturity of three months.

The rate was the same as when similar securities were sold last month.

Yields on Irish benchmark 2020 bonds fell to a 12-month low of 4.705 per cent yesterday, down from more than 14 per cent in July of last year.

Ireland returned to the long-term bond markets in July for the first time in almost two years, selling €4.2 billion of new debt.