Vol. 499 No. 4
124 Mrs. T. Ahearn asked the Minister for Finance the portfolio of Government loans managed by the debt management agency, including loans raised at fixed interest by mortgage holders and issued by local authorities; if interest rate reductions have been achieved by this agency on those loans; if those savings have been passed on to these mortgage holders; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3011/99]
The national debt is comprised of a portfolio of a large number of borrowing instruments which are used to fund the Exchequer's borrowing requirements. This portfolio includes Irish Government bonds, short-term Exchequer paper, small savings schemes, foreign currency loans and bonds, and other borrowing instruments. The National Treasury Management Agency actively manages the portfolio of borrowing instruments that makes up the national debt on my behalf with a view to delivering savings to the Exchequer.
While the Exchequer has made funds available to local authorities through the local loans fund to enable them to advance loans to individuals, it is not possible to make a direct link between the provision of these funds and loans raised by the Exchequer. There is, consequently, no direct link between the cost of Exchequer borrowing and the interest rates payable by individuals on local authority mortgages.
