The National Treasury Management Agency has said the national debt fell by €2.3 billion last year to €35.9 billion.
In its annual report, it said this was equivalent to less than four months' tax revenue and the ratio of debt to GDP was one of the lowest in Europe at 24.9%. When the NTMA was established in 1990, it took over three months' tax revenue just to pay the interest on the debt.
The NTMA said that with a 2006 budget surplus of €2.3 billion and strong gains on the National Pensions Reserve Fund, the State was better off by some €7 billion more than might have been expected at the beginning of 2006.
