Irish Debt Buyback as lower rate is forecasted.

Today the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) has completed a buyback of €4.1 billion of the 4 per cent Treasury bond.

On foot of the buyback this amount will be cancelled and the nominal outstanding will decline from €6.848 billion to €2.746 billion which had been €12 billion outstanding at its peak an NTMA spokesman said.

The remaining €2.746 billion will be redeemed on 15 January

The 4.1 billion euro buyback has no impact on the funding the Irish Government has raised to meet its needs into the first quarter of 2015, but was purely a matter of timing, a NTMA spokesman said in a statement.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan said earlier on today that the buyback would likely mean Ireland's government debt would peak at 122 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year, rather than the 124 percent previously forecast.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan

Scramble to Buy Irish Government Bonds

Investors were eager today to buy Irish government debt in the countries first auction of sovereign debt since the end of the bailout.

Some € 3.75 billion worth of 10 year bonds  were offered on the global money markets with orders worth €14 billion euro (£11.6 billion) coming in according to the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA).

This sees Irelands bond yields at their lowest since 2006, showing that the State will make a successful return to debt markets.

 The NTMA has also appointed Barclays, Citi, Danske Bank, Davy, Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley as joint lead managers for a 10-year “euro benchmark transaction”.

 ‘‘The deal is likely to be well over subscribed and will mark an important milestone for Ireland and, indeed, the euro area,’’ said Dermot O’Leary, chief economist at Goodbody Stockbrokers in Dublin.

‘‘From a funding point of view, Ireland is already in a comfortable position, but the sale today is more about Ireland’s return to normality.”