OREANDA-NEWS. The Central Bank of Irland has published its latest dataset on the holders of Irish government bonds.

Breakdown of Holders of Government Bonds

  • The nominal value outstanding of government bonds increased by €379 million to €124,382 million in June 2015.
  • Non-residents continue to increase their holdings of Irish Government bonds and now hold 59.8 per cent of outstanding bonds, up from 52.2 per cent 12-months earlier.

Outstanding government bonds stood at €124,382 million in June 2015, with just 11.1 per cent due to mature in less than three years. At end-June 2015, Irish residents held 40.2 per cent of long-term Irish government bonds. Irish credit institutions and the Central Bank of Ireland, account for 92.7 per cent of the resident holdings.

Bond holdings of non-residents continue to increase, standing at 59.8 per cent in June 2015 (compared to 52.2 per cent 12 months earlier). This reflects the large proportion of new Irish government bonds being purchased by non-residents.

Within the next 5 years, €50 billion nominal value of Government bonds will mature (Table 1). Non-residents hold 68.6 per cent of these maturing bonds, reflecting a preference for shorter dated bonds relative to Irish investors (Chart 1).

The Bonds maturing in the next 5 years have an average original maturity of 10.4 years, with an average interest rate of 4.8 per cent (Chart 2). The current yield on 10 year Irish Government bonds in the market is 1.3 per cent. If these low market rates continue, there is a potential for savings as the government issues new bonds in upcoming years.