Cash and debt management interact in many ways and are often managed by the same government agency. However, while public debt management is widely discussed, highly transparent and a largely standardised part of public policy in the OECD countries, partly due to the critical role of government securities in financial markets, government cash management is less discussed, less visible and varies much more across countries in terms of policies and practices. Nevertheless, cash management and government cash balances can have important implications both for fiscal and monetary policy.
In recent decades, cash management practices have evolved considerably due to technological advancements, developments in financial markets, and the expansion of government cash operations. At the same time, unanticipated shocks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, have also highlighted the need for debt management agencies to have the ability to fund sudden cash needs. As a result, countries now employ far more advanced technologies and techniques to manage larger volumes of cash than just a few decades ago.
It is against this background that the OECD’s Working Party on Debt Management, which plays an important role in developing guidance for public debt management, decided to establish an expert group on cash management in 2023. This report presents the findings of the year-long work of this group, whose mission was to gather experience and knowledge from its members to facilitate peer learning in government cash management.
Given the ongoing structural and cyclical changes affecting cash management, this report comes at a critical time. Over four separate chapters, it paints a comprehensive picture of how governments manage their cash. It does not attempt to prescribe a uniform set of policies and practices for cash management; rather, it serves as a valuable reference for policy makers and practitioners by outlining different OECD country practices and the contexts underpinning them.
Lastly, we wish to express our sincere thanks to those who gave their time and shared their expertise to make this report possible.
Carmine Di Noia,
Director for Financial and Enterprise Affairs, OECD
Thomas Anthony Linehan,
Deputy Director, Funding and Debt Management, NTMA, Ireland