The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) today published its 2015 Annual Report and delivered a midyear update for 2016 across its five business areas.
NTMA CEO Conor O'Kelly, indicated that ground has been made up in effort to reduce Irish interest payments which stand at €7bn from €7.5bn in 2014.
Commenting on today’s results Mr O’Kelly said “Firstly, the supportive environment provided by the ECB's quantitative easing programme should not be underestimated. Secondly, as we have said before, our debt is over €200bn and the UK referendum outcome is a reminder that Ireland is not immune to domestic or external shocks."
“During 2015 and into 2016 the continued improvement in Ireland’s public debt dynamics has been reflected in the very substantial reduction in Ireland’s borrowing costs and successive credit rating upgrades culminating in Ireland regaining A status from all the major ratings agencies,” he continued.
Rating agency Moody’s lifted Ireland’s long-term sovereign credit rating to A3 (with a positive outlook), joining S&P, Fitch, DBRS and R&I in assigning an A-category rating to Ireland.
Turning to the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, Mr O’Kelly said the Fund’s first full year of operations was a productive one with €759m of investment commitments, bringing the year-end total to over €2 billion.
NTMA has already announced commitments in the areas of student accommodation, residential housing, SME finance, agri-finance, renewable energy, technology and venture capital.
The report also pointed out that assessing the long-term impact of the Brexit vote on Irish credit spreads will take time.
Source: www.businessworld.ie
