The two bonds in the auction, maturing in 2031 and 2050, were both sold with a positive yield, meaning the State will be paying them back with interest. This is in contrast to January's massively oversubscribed €5.5bn auction of Irish Government bonds at a negative yield of -0.257pc. This morning's auction had a relatively modest coverage ratio of 1.75, indicating reduced appetite for Irish debt in the intervening two months. The 10 year bond in today's auction was sold with a marginally positive 0.013pc yield, while the longer-dated bond maturing in 2050 has a yield of 0.667pc. Irish consumer prices fell by 0.4pc year-on-year in February, according to data published today by the Central Statistics Office.

Source: Irish Independent March 11, 2021 11:30 UTC