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