Ireland's gross external debt fell by €51 billion to €1.64 trillion by the end of September last, data from the Central Statistics Office showed today.
Much of the debt, which covers all resident sectors, including general government, the monetary authority, financial, and non-financial corporations and households, is offset by foreign financial assets held by Irish residents.
Government foreign borrowing rose €1 billion to €73 billion from June 2009 levels, and climbed €22 billion compared to September 2008.
The liabilities of insurance companies, pension funds, treasury companies and other relevant financial enterprises, as well as non-financial enterprises totalled €618 billion, representing 38 per cent of the total debt, compared with 37 per cent in June.
The liabilities of monetary financial institutions - such as credit institutions and money market funds - were almost unchanged, falling €85 million to €691 billion between June 30th and September 30th 2009. Compared with the same period a year earlier, debt was down €107 billion.
Monetary Authority liabilities fell to €56 billion during the quarter, declining €48 billion. This fall was attributed to decreases in Ireland’s end quarter liabilities to the European System of Central Banks (ESCB).