The National Treasury Management Agency sold €500 million of short-term debt on Thursday with the notes priced to yield a negative rate of 0.41 per cent, meaning investors are paying the State to hold their money.

The 12-month Treasury Bills were 2.8 times oversubscribed.

Short-term government debt across the euro zone has been carrying a negative yield for some time, given the European Central Bank’s easy-money policy under its so-called ongoing €2.3 trillion quantitative easing bond-buying programme.