Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 8 March 2017

Committee on Budgetary Oversight

Developments in the National Debt: National Treasury Management Agency

2:00 pm

Mr. Conor O'Kelly:

It is €7 billion and on its way to €6 billion. As such, €3 billion to €4 billion per annum is the interest saving, which must be due to the interest rate environment in which we have been able to refinance. That has been driven largely by QE. However, it is also due to the policies adopted by governments and decision makers at the time, including Deputy Burton, which improved the credit story and the fiscal position for Ireland. We saw our credit spread narrowing against Germany and moving into that space. That had much more to do with our fiscal position than with Mario Draghi and interest rates. That is Ireland as a creditor moving from the peripheral category with Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece to the category with France and Belgium, where it is today. That is really more about Ireland, its credit story and the fundamentals. That is the credit spread narrowing from 140 to 150 base points over Germany to where it is now at 70 or 80 points above. The rest of it is more about the absolute level of rates, which have come down. That is more to do with QE. It is very difficult to break it out but we have been a very big beneficiary.

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