The Belgian federal government's debt decreased by 5.3 billion euro in December to stand at 393.850 billion euro at the end of the month, the Debt Agency, announced on Wednesday.
In net terms (after deducting financial investments and portfolio securities), it went down by 3.472 billion euro, standing at 385.480 billion euro at the end of December.
The net financial surplus for December 2019 rose to 3.657 billion euro, the agency stated in a press release.
The Federal government debt also includes debts incurred by certain bodies with which it becomes involved in terms of financial costs. These debts rose to 209.633 million euro at the end of December.
The Treasury emphasises that the debt is subject to significant fluctuations over a period of time. Debt developments over the course of the year do not therefore generally reflect the overall annual development.
With respect to operations carried out during the past month, the Treasury notes that Treasury Bond 1242 (4.20% 2011-2019) was repaid until the final maturity of 4 December 2019 for a total of 142.012 million euro.
Management operations (inter bank deposits and investments as well as the taking of mainly OLO securities into portfolio) have gone down by 1.650 billion euro.
At the end of December 2019, the medium- and long-term debt accounted for 90.14% of the outstanding debt issued or taken over by the Federal government, as against 90.64% at the end of December 2018.
The euro debt accounted for 100% of the amount owed, as was the case the previous year on the same date, the agency concluded.
The Brussels Times
