Primary market developments for government bonds

This chapter discusses the functioning of primary markets, in particular by providing an overview of recent changes in issuing strategies, procedures and techniques, in response to regulatory changes and their impacts on issuance. Some of these changes, while understandable, might pose new challenges for debt managers. To the extent that debt managers are becoming more opportunistic, issuance programmes will be less predictable. That situation may not be desirable in the longer term. Debt management offices (DMOs) emphasize therefore that they aim at using a transparent debt management framework, supported by a strong communication policy. In this context, some DMOs took concrete steps to increase the predictability and transparency of their primary market operations.