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Ireland's last treasury bill sale achieved an average rate of 0.2 per cent. http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-70485p1.html

NTMA to sell more T-Bills but markets unlikely to learn anything

Ireland will hope to sell €500 million worth of short-term treasury bills this week with the short-term loans are expected to go with little fuss.

THE NATIONAL TREASURY Management Agency has announced that it is to auction off another €500 million worth of short-term treasury bills this Thursday.

The T-Bills have a three-month maturity similar to those which sold in July at an annualised interest rate of 0.2 per cent.

The issuance is part of the NTMA’s continued re-engagement with the markets but the regularity of the short-term loans means that they have offered little fresh information of late about Ireland’s standing.

“I don’t think more recent auctions have told us a whole lot new about Ireland,” said Investec’s chief economist Philip O’ Sullivan. “We would’ve seen a significant fall in terms of borrowing costs when we initially came back into the markets and more recent auctions have gotten away at very low rates indeed.”

Ireland began re-selling treasury bills in July 2012 at which time the yield was 1.8 per cent, with the interest on the last two auctions being at the far lower rate of 0.2 per cent.

Ireland’s ability to raise it’s own funding will be tested to a greater extent if it were to raise money with a loan of much longer maturity. O’Sullivan says that the NTMA currently has a healthy level of liquidity and does not need to raise funds but would ideally like to make a modest 10-year bond sale of about €1 billion to demonstrate market strength:

The market is anticipating that there will be further long term issuance out of Ireland, possibly before the year end. This tallies with guidance from Michael Noonan and the NTMA. However, given the ample liquidity the State has to hand – it is currently fully funded into 2015 – pricing is likely to take priority over size in any new issuance, with the objective being to consolidate the progress Ireland has made in terms of re-engagement with the markets.

Read: How would the Minister for Finance describe Ireland in one word? Debt. >

Read: NTMA sells T-Bills as Troika completes penultimate review >

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17 Comments
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    Mute in_zane_burger
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    Apr 2nd 2014, 3:06 PM

    Can I have my money back now

    32
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    Mute padser123
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    Apr 2nd 2014, 3:33 PM

    It’s like’…..burning your furniture – to keep warm!

    23
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    Mute Paul Roche
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    Apr 2nd 2014, 4:52 PM

    Why are PwC saying this instead of IBRC and NAMA?

    11
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    Mute Philip
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    Apr 2nd 2014, 5:20 PM

    As property prices start to rise nama , ibrc start to dump property

    Can someone explain why?

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    Mute Dara O'Brien
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    Apr 2nd 2014, 5:56 PM

    Dumping loans philip, not property. They’re Dumping the loans as they’re non-performing and want to get them off the balance sheet.

    If they had the patience, they’d put arrangements in place to allow the properties to return to positive equity and then seek a sale, this recouping more of the tax payers money.

    Unfortunately, they’ll sell the loans for a discount and allow the new purchasers to do this and net a tidy profit.

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    Mute Garry Coll
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    Apr 2nd 2014, 5:02 PM

    The article outlines that IBRC (IBROKE would probably be a better name) will offload € 15 billion in loans.
    Yet the linked article tells us that IBROKE have already offloaded 90% of its loanbook, € 19.8 billion out of € 21.7 billion leaving just € 1.9 billion on hand.
    This can only mean, if the previous article is correct, that it is NAMA that is offloading the majority of the loans.
    Why the subterfuge?
    Why make people think that this is some kind of joint enterprise when it is NAMA that is leading the charge?
    Have the shiny suit brigade from the canal something to hide?
    Given their obsession with secrecy it would not surprise me if they have, perhaps selling the loans to some preferred customer with an inside track at a serious discount.
    The way things go it will all be wrapped up before we know anything, plus ça change.

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    Mute Irish Revolution
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    Apr 2nd 2014, 2:58 PM

    Who in their right mind would buy this junk?

    3
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    Mute Padraig McHale
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    Apr 2nd 2014, 3:01 PM

    It might only be worth 30% of face value but if you buy it for 20% it’s a good deal. For the buyer anyway.

    32
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    Mute Tony
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    Apr 2nd 2014, 3:06 PM

    @ Irish Revolution

    The Banks?

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    Mute Deirdre McDonnell
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    Apr 3rd 2014, 2:42 AM

    Hedge funds bought it. They will now sell off all the ghost estates etc at a lower price so people that have houses for sale at the min will eventually have to sell for half or take them off the market.
    Fab house here in drogheda asking price €325. Hilarious. You could now nearly get a house for that on raglan road or ailsbury road!! So that house is realistically worth less than €150 really.
    People and notions ha

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    Mute Vanessa Doyle
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    Apr 2nd 2014, 7:04 PM

    What about Bank of Scotland selling on my mortgage & others in their Irish portfolio to a company called Tanager Ltd.
    I’m in a tizzy all day because I don’t know what it means for us.

    3
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