Borrowing will be closer to €24 billion than €20 billion this year , the State’s debt management agency said after the Government unveiled its July stimulus plan on Thursday.
The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) previously said that borrowing would be between €20 billion and €24 billion. However, after Taoiseach Micheál Martin confirmed that the budget deficit this year would reach €30 billion, the NTMA said borrowing would be at the "upper end" of that range.
The announcement suggests that the agency could raise up to €4 billion more this year having already raised €20 billion in long-term bond funding in 2020 at an average yield of 0.27 per cent and average maturity of more than 11 years.
“Our guidance takes account of our levels of pre-funding entering 2020, additional funding flows from private placements with ultra-long maturities, increased retail inflows into State savings, and strong demand for our treasury bills and euro commercial paper,” said NTMA director of funding and debt management Frank O’Connor.
The State’s next bond auction is scheduled for September, and Mr O’Connor said the debt management agency would “continue to monitor fiscal developments in the interim”.
