Sir, – Why all the euphoria about the National Treasury Management Agency’s €3.75 billion bond sale (Front Page, January 8th)? EU banks can borrow from the ECB at 1 per cent and reinvest in Irish government bonds at more than 3 per cent. The fact that the Irish offering was oversubscribed may well be an indicator that the premium was too generous and it was sold too cheaply. We need to get away from misrepresenting our dealings with money lenders as a cause for self-congratulation. These bondholders are much the same cast of kindly characters that we were obliged to repay for their profligate lending to our reckless banks and poorly regulated financial institutions. We have just added another €3.75 billion to the debt burden that our children will be forced to carry. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL ANDERSON,
Moyclare Close,
Baldoyle, Dublin 13.