The lads and lasses down at the National Treasury Management Agency were in upbeat form last week. The debt agency got closer to its target of raising the €25bn it needs this year and could soon start pre-funding next year's government deficit too. NTMA chief executive Michael Somers again wheeled out the now famous "cash balances" the agency has in the safe for emergencies.

But for all the positive talk directed at domestic audiences, the best that can be said is that the crisis days of January to mid-March seem to have passed. When the German government and the ECB made clear in April that it would not let a fellow eurozone country fall, the interest rate on the Irish 10-year benchmark bond slid from 6% to 5%. But Ireland continues to pay among the highest interest rates in Europe ? comments that Irish bond paper is the best performing in Europe really means that Ireland must pay among the highest interest rates in Europe.

The NTMA's auction of three- and five-year debt last week was oversubscribed many times but the agency is still baulking at selling 10-year paper, presumably betting that the huge two-percentage-point premium it need pay over Germany will narrow next year.

Many international market watchers say Ireland will continue to pay two points more than Germany for some time. The bad bank, the National Asset Management Agency, is the key part in the strategy to improve overseas' confidence in the Irish economy. However, the best Ireland may hope for is to pay no more than Italy to service its long-term debts, and that's still a full one percentage more than the German rate.