The National Treasury Management Agency sold €500 million of short-term debt at a record negative interest rate of -0.5 per cent.

That means that investors are paying the State to hold their money until it is due to be repaid in 12 months’ time. The NTMA received bids amounting to 3.4 times the amount of so-called Treasury Bills on offer.

The negative interest rate, or yield, attached to the bonds reflects the European Central Bank’s ongoing quantitative-easing bond-buying programme, designed to boost inflation and growth in the euro zone.

The yield on the last batch of of 12-month Treasury Bills sold by the NTMA, in June, was -0.41 per cent.