Ireland will return to the bond markets on Thursday with a €500 million auction of six-month treasury bills, the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) announced today.

The auction follows last week’s sale of seven-year bonds, at a yield of 0.81 per cent, which raised €750 million.

The NTMA has already raised €10.25 billion this year out of a total targeted fund-raising of €12 billion to €15 billion.

Most of the money raised to date has been for longer maturities - including €4.5 billion raised in a new 30-year bond.