Public Debt Management in Selected Central East Europe Countries

Abstract

Public debt management represents an important part of public finance in each economy and in most countries is in administrative authority within the Ministry of Finance. The Public Debt Administration is the holder of public debt policy, presenting one of the most important branches of macroeconomic policy and has stabilization and developmental function. The Public Debt Management determines the schedule, scope and currency structure of the security issuance in the domestic and international financial markets and directly affects the level of indebtedness of the country and the level of foreign exchange risk. The main objective of public debt management is to ensure that the government’s financing needs and its payment obligations are met at the lowest possible cost over the medium to long run, consistent with a prudent degree of risk. Adequate public debt management is crucial in view of the severe macroeconomic consequences of non-enforcement of public debt and the potential expansion of instability to other sectors in an economy. All this indicates the need for an adequately setting up current and future public debt management strategy and the development of instruments to reduce borrowing costs and foreign exchange risk levels. The aim of this paper is to present public debt management in selected Central East Europe countries (Serbia, Hungary, Croatia, Albania and Slovenia) and to recommend further improvement of its public debt strategies.