Ireland's external debt rose to €1.67 trillion at the end of March, according to the Central Statistics Office.
The gross external debt of all resident sectors, which includes general government, the monetary authority, financial and non-financial corporations and household, totalled €1.67 billion at the end of March, a rise of €58 billion compared the end of December 2009.
General government foreign borrowing rose almost €8 billion in the period, reaching €83 billion as new long-term debt securities were issued.
Meanwhile, the liabilities of monetary financial institutions, which consist mostly of loans and debt securities, rose €5 billion to €666 billion, reversing the falling trend that has been seen since September 2008. This represents 40 per cent of the total debt.
Monetary authorities saw liabilities fell by more than €15 billion over the period to €38 billion as the country's end quarter liabilities to the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) declined.