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ANNUAL REPORT 2008 - Polymer Bank Notes of the World

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Box 6DEVELOPMENTS IN THE ISSUANCE AND YIELD SPREADS OF EURO AREA GOVERNMENT DEBTSECURITIESThe annual growth rate <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> outstandingamount <strong>of</strong> euro area general government debtsecurities stood at 8.0% in <strong>2008</strong>. Althoughsignificantly higher than <strong>the</strong> 2.8% recordedin 2007 (see Table A) 1 , it is comparable to<strong>the</strong> figures recorded in previous periods <strong>of</strong>slowing economic growth. This growth in <strong>the</strong>net issuance <strong>of</strong> government debt securities,toge<strong>the</strong>r with <strong>the</strong> sharp slowdown in GDPgrowth observed in <strong>2008</strong>, was also reflectedin <strong>the</strong> deterioration in <strong>the</strong> government debt-to-GDP ratio for <strong>the</strong> euro area, which rose from66.1% in 2007 to 68.7% in <strong>2008</strong>. 2Chart A Breakdown <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> change in interestpayments for <strong>the</strong> period 1999-<strong>2008</strong>(as a percentage <strong>of</strong> GDP; annual data)change in debtchange in interest ratecross effect0.20.10.0-0.1-0.20.20.10.0-0.1-0.2Looking at <strong>the</strong> composition <strong>of</strong> net issuancein <strong>2008</strong>, <strong>the</strong> activity <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> euro areashort-term debt securities primary market was-0.3-0.4-0.3-0.4remarkably strong. This partly reflects <strong>the</strong> fact-0.5that <strong>the</strong> yield curve became steeper during 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 <strong>2008</strong>-0.5<strong>2008</strong>, making short-term financing relatively Source: European Commission (AMECO database).cheaper. This is a feature common to o<strong>the</strong>repisodes <strong>of</strong> slower economic growth with declining short-term interest rates. As a result, longtermdebt accounted for around 88.7% <strong>of</strong> outstanding debt securities in <strong>2008</strong>, <strong>the</strong> lowest levelsince <strong>the</strong> start <strong>of</strong> Stage Three <strong>of</strong> EMU (see Table B).1 Growth rates are calculated on <strong>the</strong> basis <strong>of</strong> financial transactions and <strong>the</strong>refore exclude reclassifications, revaluations, exchange ratevariations and o<strong>the</strong>r changes that do not arise from transactions. For details, see <strong>the</strong> technical notes relating to Sections 4.3 and 4.4 <strong>of</strong><strong>the</strong> “Euro area statistics” section <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ECB’s Monthly Bulletin.2 As at January 2009 <strong>the</strong> potential direct impact <strong>of</strong> announced government support to <strong>the</strong> banking sector on euro area general governmentdebt was estimated at €284.6 billion (around 3% <strong>of</strong> euro area GDP).Table A Annual growth rates <strong>of</strong> debt securities issued by euro area governments(percentages; end <strong>of</strong> period)1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 <strong>2008</strong>Total general government 3.4 2.7 3.3 5.0 5.5 5.8 4.7 2.4 2.8 8.0Long-term 5.6 3.6 2.8 3.9 4.8 6.2 5.5 3.4 2.3 3.6Fixed rate 5.2 5.6 4.6 5.7 6.4 5.4 3.4 2.0 3.6Floating rate -2.5 -13.4 -4.5 -1.6 7.0 8.3 3.0 5.4 3.5Short-term -16.5 -7.1 8.7 18.5 13.6 2.1 -4.0 -8.8 9.5 62.6Source: ECB.ECBAnnual Report<strong>2008</strong>71

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