Move over Belgium: Ireland targets semi-core status

Ireland — lauded among peripheral sovereigns for the way in which it has set itself on the path to recovery — exited an EU/IMF bail-out package in November. Since then the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) has been working on a return to capital markets normality through benchmark issuance and the resumption of an auction schedule. The sovereign has been successful enough to begin to position itself as a semi-core European issuer — next to Belgium — and away from the periphery. But issues remain, such as the levels of private debt in Ireland’s economy. Plus the big question of what will happen to the European sovereign debt markets when the European Central Bank decided to turn the liquidity taps off. GlobalCapital met with members of the NTMA at their offices in Dublin, together with key bankers and investors, to discuss what is next in Ireland’s path towards the eurozone’s core.