Holders of Irish Government Bonds - September 2015

View information release with charts and related data tables.

Breakdown of Holders of Government Bonds

• The nominal value outstanding of government bonds increased by €1,053 million to €124,937 million in September 2015.
• Non-residents have significantly increased their holdings of Irish Government bonds over the past year, to 60.1 per cent of outstanding bonds, up from 54 per cent 12-months earlier. The pace of this increase is easing as holdings by the combined domestic Credit institutions and Central Bank increase.

Outstanding government bonds¹ stood at €124,937 million in September 2015, with just 11.6 per cent due to mature in less than three years. At end-September 2015, Irish residents held 39.9 per cent of long-term Irish government bonds. Irish credit institutions and the Central Bank of Ireland account for 92.2 per cent of the resident holdings (Chart 2).

The holdings of Irish Government bonds by Irish Credit Institutions and the Central Bank of Ireland increased by €457 million this month, implying strong buying activity in these sectors. Holdings of non-residents increased by €654 million during the month. Over the past year non-resident holdings have risen from 54 per cent to 60.1 percent of the total (an increase of over €14.5 billion).

Within the next 5 years, €49.9 billion of Government bonds will mature (Table 1). Non-residents hold 68.9 per cent of these maturing bonds (Chart 1).

Detailed tables and the explanatory notes can be found on the Central Bank’s website.

Notes

(i) Data are sourced from the Central Bank of Ireland

(ii) Data refer to €-denominated debt securities

Background information

This data series was published for the first time in March 2014. The new series beginning in December 2013 is based on improved information sources, so it is not directly comparable with previous publications. Care should, therefore, be exercised in comparing the new series with earlier publications.

The change has arisen due to the introduction of the Securities Holdings Regulation by the ECB in December 2013. The dataset is compiled from data submitted by all custodians resident in Ireland, direct reporting by end investors and information from the Government Bond Register held by the Central Bank to provide breakdowns by maturity and by holding sector.

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¹ Please see background information below and the explanatory notes for further information