NTMA seeks to raise up to €1.5bn

The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) will raise between €1 billion and €1.5 billion in its next bond auction which will take place next Tuesday 15th June 2010.

A 4.6 per cent 2016 bond and a 4.5 per cent 2018 bond will be auctioned as part of its regular funding programme.

Last month the NTMA raised €1.5 billion in its monthly bond auction - the first bond auction since the onset of the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis.

The agency had last month considered pulling the monthly bond auction due to spiralling debt costs on the back of the Greek crisis, but it proceeded after the agency concluded that "normality" had returned to the debt markets.

Investors bid over three times the amount on offer, reflecting an appetite to lend to Ireland.