Holders of Irish Government Bonds - February 2016

View information release with charts (PDF 505.48KB) and related data tables

Key Developments

• The nominal value outstanding of government bonds increased by €760 million to €128,772 million in February 2016.
• Within the next 5 years, €57,784 million of government bonds will mature, of which €23,777 million will mature in the next 3 years.

Outstanding government bonds stood at €128,772 million in February 2016, with Irish residents holding 40 per cent of the total. Irish credit institutions and the Central Bank of Ireland account for 92.4 per cent of the resident holdings (Chart 2).

Within the next 5 years, €57,784 million of government bonds will mature (Table 1). Of this, €23,777 million will mature in the next 3 years, with a further €34,007 million in the two years after. Non-residents hold 69.5 per cent of these maturing bonds (Chart 1).
Non-resident holdings increased over the month to €77.2 billion. While this is €4.7bn greater than this time last year, the percentage holdings have been quite stable, increasing from 59.3 per cent to 60.0 per cent of total holdings.

Detailed tables and the explanatory notes (PDF 189.46KB) can be found on the Central Bank of Ireland’s website.

Background information

This data series was published for the first time in March 2014. The new series beginning in February 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 February 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.