NTMA says this year’s borrowing will be closer to €24bn

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.

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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”.