DUBLIN - Ireland was set to raise 3.5 billion euros ($4 billion) from the sale of a new 10-year bond on Thursday, a lead manager on the deal said, covering at least a quarter of its funding needs for 2022.
Ireland's National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA), like other European debt management offices, regularly raises a chunk of funds early in the year via a syndicate of banks and brokers.
It plans to issue 10 billion to 14 billion euros on the bond market this year, down from the 18.5 billion raised in 2021 as the government expects to spend far less battling the COVID-19 pandemic.
The spread for Thursday's sale was set at 1 basis point over the mid-swap level and drew strong demand of 27 billion euros, the lead manager said. That implies a yield of around 0.39%, according to Reuters calculations.
The last time Ireland sold new 10-year debt a year ago, it received orders in excess of 40 billion euros. The time before that - in June 2020 - it attracted record high demand of 66 billion euros.
Ireland's public finances started the year on a stronger footing after data last week showed a lower-than-expected budget deficit of around 4% of economic activity in 2021 due to a record surge in tax receipts and less spending by government departments than anticipated.
The government also hopes to soon ease restrictions imposed last month on the hospitality sector to slow the spread of COVID-19, a senior minister said on Wednesday.
The NTMA mandated BNP Paribas, Cantor Fitzgerald Ireland, Citi, Danske Bank, J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley as joint lead managers on the deal. ($1 = 0.8728 euros)
(Reporting by Padraic Halpin in Dublin and Yoruk Bahceli in London; Editing by Toby Chopra, Frank Jack Daniel and Alex Richardson) ((padraic.halpin@thomsonreuters.com; +353 1 500 1504; Reuters Messaging: padraic.halpin.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
