NTMA: Ireland ready for full return to bond markets
The National Treasury Management Agency says Ireland now has the ability to fund itself on the bond markets.
To successfully exit the Troika bailout, Ireland must be able to show it can meet its borrowing needs - and the NTMA says it has met its goal of having a year's cash in place to fund the State.
So far this year, it has raised €7.5bn by selling Government bonds - and will consider further sales later in the year.
Speaking at the launch of the agency's annual report today, NTMA chief executive John Corrigan acknowledged that the markets would like a "precautionary" programme in place for when Ireland exits the bailout programme.
"We would be the first country to exit a programme," he said.
"But the IMF, certainly, in similar circumstances, would strongly recommend that countries avail of a precautionary programme, and certainly the market would like to see that."
