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The State’s debt agency drew €2.8 billion of bids from international investors for €1 billion of bonds it put on the market in an auction on Thursday.
The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) sold €500 million of bonds due in 2020, which were priced to carry an interest rate, or yield, of 0.109 per cent. It also sold €500 million of 10-year bonds, priced to yield 1.07 per cent.
This means that the agency has sold €6.25 billion of bonds since the beginning of 2018, out of a full-year target of between €14 billion and €18 billion.
"Overall, Irish issuance has been well received so far in 2018," said Ryan McGrath, head of fixed-income strategy at Cantor Fitzgerald in Ireland.
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The bond sale took place hours before a European Central Bank governing council meeting at which the institution is expected to keep rates on hold. Market investors will be monitoring closely for any clues from the ECB on when it will end its €2.5 trillion quantitative-easing bond-buying programme.
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