The OECD Working Party on Debt Management was set up in 1979 as a special working group of the OECD’s Committee on Financial Markets. Since its creation, the Working Party has been a unique policy forum for the 30 senior government debt managers from OECD Member countries to exchange their views and experiences in the field of government debt management and government securities markets.

In response to the rapid development in government debt markets, the Working Party has been extending the range of topics for discussion: factual condition of government debt instruments, the use of electronic systems, selling techniques, the organisation of primary and secondary markets in government securities, the organisation of debt offices, risk management as well as other policy issues and techniques of government debt management.

Information about best (or good) practices for government debt management and primary and secondary market operations has also been shared with debt managers from emerging market economies. To that end, the Working Party initiated in 1990 a policy dialogue with transition countries and, later on, with emerging markets in several regional and global policy forums, including the Annual OECD/World Bank Global Bond Market Forum, the OECD’s Annual Baltic-Nordic Forum on Public Debt Management, and the Annual OECD Global Forum on Public Debt Management in Emerging Government Securities Markets.

The Working Party’s unique and up-to-date pool of knowledge in this special field of government activity and policy has become of great importance for the debt managers from emerging market economies as they design and implement their policies in this area. The best or good practices identified by the Working Party serve therefore de facto as a global standard.

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