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IRELAND’S return to the bond markets may lead rating agency Moody’s to upgrade the country's credit rating, Dublin-based NCB Stockbrokers said this morning.
The prediction came a day after the National Treasury Management Agency sold about €2.5bn of its 2017 bonds. The NTMA got orders worth €7bn.
“We view sales like yesterday’s as helping to close the gap between Ireland’s current rating and investment grade,” wrote Cathal O’Leary, head of fixed income sales, in a note to investors. “A factor in Ireland’s downgrade by Moody’s last year was a lack of market access, so it is not beyond the realm of possibility that the decisive steps taken by the NTMA over the past year to remedy this will culminate in an upgrade.”
