A survey on policy objectives, the characteristics of public debt (the foreign currency part of the debt; overview of instruments, including derivatives; duration and maturity) and non-resident holdings of the debt, was distributed in the summer of 2000 among the OECD debt managers to prepare a discussion note for the Working Party on Government Debt Management. This chapter summarises the answers from the debt managers who participated in the survey.
Three general conclusions can be drawn from the survey:
• Debt managers pay increasing attention to the risks associated with government debt management. The increased use of financial derivatives seems to support this development.
• Liquidity plays an increasingly important role in government debt management, especially in the euro area.
• The availability of reliable data on holders of government debt has increased