Ireland's External Debt Increases To 1.69 Trillion Euro In March

At the end of March, Ireland's amounted to €1,693 billion, an increase of €32 billion from the end of December.

The increase was due to a combination of exchange rate effects and the availability of new data.

Much of this external debt is offset by holdings of foreign financial assets by Irish residents.

The liabilities of financial institutions amounted to €723 billion. This was €56 billion lower than at the end of December and, at 43% of the total debt, was a smaller share than in the previous quarter.

The decrease was due to a large reduction in debt liabilities, particularly short-term loans, and is to an extent reflected by an increase of over €50 billion in Monetary Authority liabilities to the European System of Central Banks (ESCB).

The liabilities of other sectors increased by €28 billion from December and at €621 billion represented 37% of the overall debt, slightly higher than in the previous quarter.

The bulk of this increase results from new data included in the Balance of Payments revisions for 2007 and 2008 published this week and which will also feature in the International Investment Position figures for 2008 due for release in Autumn of this year.

As a result of the new and updated information, direct investment debt liabilities of €194 billion showed an increase of almost €7 billion.

General government liabilities increased further to €60 billion. The increase was driven by long-term bond issues more than offsetting a reduction in short-term money market instrument issues during the first quarter of this year.