The agency which borrows money on behalf of the State has raised another €1.5 billion through the sale of Government bonds on international markets.
But the cost of the borrowing was higher, as the interest rate demanded by investors for 10-year bonds was much higher than in previous sales.
The National Treasury Management Agency sold €750m of bonds due to be re-paid in 2016 and €750m of 10-year bonds to mature in 2020.
The yield, or interest rate, on the 2016 bonds was lower than in last month's auction, but the yield on 10-year bonds climbed to 5.537%, compared with 4.72% in the last sale of similar bonds in May. Demand for the bonds was strong, however, with bids more than three times the number of bonds allocated.
Yields on Irish bonds have been climbing recently. Credit rating agency Moody's downgraded Ireland's debt rating yesterday, though this had little impact on the bond markets.
The NTMA says it has now raised more than 90% of its planned €20 billion borrowing target for this year. It says the Exchequer is 'fully funded' to meet its needs into the second quarter of next year.
Meanwhile, Greece has raised €1.95 billion with an issue of three-month bonds carrying a rate of 4.05%. The country's debt agency PDMA raised more than the €1.5 billion initially targeted.
The head of PDMA, Petros Christodoulou, told the AFP news agency that the issue had been oversubscribed and Greek officials were very satisfied with the issue.
