Ireland's debt fall below 105% of GDP

New official figures, released from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on Friday, showed Ireland's government debt stood at 104.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) at the end of the first quarter of this year.

Ireland's general government gross debt at face value stood at 204 billion euros (about 222 billion U.S. dollars), or 104.7 percent of annualized GDP at the end of the first quarter, compared to a level of 203 billion euros or 107.6 percent of annualized GDP at the end of the fourth quarter, according to the CSO figures.

Meanwhile, Ireland's general government deficit amounted to 2.7 billion euros in the first quarter, representing 5.4 percent of quarterly GDP.

In the corresponding quarter of 2014, the deficit amounted to 2.6 billion euros or 5.8 percent of quarterly GDP.

The CSO said Ireland's gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter of this year rose by 1.4 percent quarter-on-quarter, with an increase of 6.5 percent year-on-year. (1 euro = 1.09 U.S. dollars)