Economics

Portugal, Ireland Bond Sales Show Conviction on ECB Rate Outlook

An illuminated euro currency symbol is projected on to the European Central Bank (ECB) headquarters during the Luminale light festival in Frankfurt, Germany.Photographer: Martin Leissl

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By John Ainger and Dirk Gojny

January 9, 2019 at 4:45 PM UTC

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In one fell swoop, Portugal and Ireland completed a quarter of their refinancing for the year.

The two nations sold 4 billion euros ($4.6 billion) of bonds each via syndication Wednesday, compared with Portugal’s 15.4 billion euro target for 2019 and Ireland’s goal of between 14 and 18 billion euros. That follows banks underwriting around 21 percent of Belgium’s target issuance Tuesday.