Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 July 2015
233. Deputy Joanna Tuffy asked the Minister for Finance if he will provide an update on the moneys saved by the State through changes achieved by negotiation on Ireland's debt since 2011; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30411/15]
View answerThe Government has achieved significant improvements in the terms of our EU/IMF programme loans since they were initially agreed in late 2010.
The savings arising from these changes can be broken down into two elements, cash savings and a reduction in our borrowing requirement over a period of time.
In 2011, we reached agreement to reduce the cost of our EFSF loans. Similar reductions were subsequently agreed for our interest rates on the loans provided by the EFSM and by our three bilateral lenders. It is estimated that these interest rate reductions are worth around 9 billion euro over the initially envisaged 7 ½ year term.
These interest rate reductions, and more recently the early repayment of a large portion of some 18.3 billion euro - of our IMF loans, mean that we have negotiated real cash savings of over 10 billion euro.
Also in 2011, the average maturity of our EFSM and the EFSF loans was extended to 12.5 and 15 years respectively, and a further extension of up to 7 years was agreed in 2013. This has smoothed our redemption profile, improving long-term debt sustainability, and has had a positive effect on the cost of Exchequer borrowing.
The extension of maturities and the subsequent replacement of the Promissory Notes issued to the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) with a series of longer term Government bonds reduce the State's borrowing requirement by over 40 billion euro over the next decade, thus significantly improving the viability of the State's finances.
