Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 May 2014
106. Deputy Joan Collins asked the Minister for Finance if he will estimate the interest to be paid by the State between February 2013 and end December 2014 on the €25 billion sovereign bonds used to swap with the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation promissory notes in February 2013. [22482/14]
View answer107. Deputy Joan Collins asked the Minister for Finance if he will estimate the interest to be paid by the State between February 2013 and end December 2014 on the portion of the €25 billion sovereign bonds used to swap with the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation promissory notes in February 2013 that have been disposed of by the Central Bank of Ireland to the bond market, including the €350 million of bonds which the Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland recently stated had been disposed of in 2013. [22483/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 106 and 107 together.
The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) issued eight new Floating Rate Treasury Bonds to the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) on 8 February 2013 to replace the Promissory Notes previously held by IBRC. The bonds have maturities ranging from 25 to 40 years and pay interest every six months in mid-June and in mid-December based on the six-month Euribor interest rate plus an interest margin which averages 2.63% across the eight issues. Total cash interest on the floating rate bonds in 2013 was just under €0.65 billion. Cash interest payable in 2014 is currently estimated to be just under €0.8 billion, the increase compared to 2013 largely reflecting the fact that a full year's interest is payable this year. The CBI is presently the holder of the entire portfolio of these floating rate bonds and, on that basis, interest payable is currently accruing to the CBI. The CBI has undertaken that bonds to the minimum value indicated will be sold in accordance with the following schedule: €0.5 billion to end-2014, €0.5 billion per annum in 2015-2018, €1 billion per annum in 2019-2023 and €2 billion per annum from 2024 onwards. Interest payable will accrue to the purchaser of the bonds, rather than the CBI, once the bonds are sold. During 2013 the CBI sold €350 million of its holdings of the 5.4% Treasury Bond 2025. This is a fixed rate bond and so separate from the Floating Rate Treasury Bonds.
