Improving Public Debt Management
In the OIC Member Countries
208
Glossary
Table G-0-1: General Public Debt TermsTerm Meaning
Arrears The part of a debt that is both unpaid and past the due date for payment.
Average interest
rate The weighted average level of interest rates on the outstanding gross public sector debt
or any specific debt instrument, at nominal and market value, as at the reference date.
Average time to
maturity The weighted average time to maturity of all the principal payments in the debt portfolio.
Average time to
refixing The weighted average time until all the principal payments in the debt portfolio become
subject to a new interest rate.
Coupon The yield paid by a fixedincome security on its issue date (relative to the bond's face or
par value). This yield changes as the value of the bond changes.
Domestic public
debt All debt liabilities of a national (federal) government that are issued under and subject
to national jurisdiction, regardless of the nationality of the creditor or the currency
denomination of the debt. Terms of the debt contracts can be marketdetermined or set
unilaterally by the government.
Eurobond
A bond denominated in a currency other than the home currency of the country or
market in which it is issued. These bonds are frequently grouped together by the
currency in which they are denominated, such as eurodollar or euroyen bonds. Issuance
is usually handled by an international syndicate of financial institutions on behalf of the
borrower. The term Eurobond refers only to the fact the bond is issued outside of the
borders of the currency's home country; it does not mean the bond was issued in Europe
or denominated in Euro.
External public
debt All debt liabilities of a national (federal) government with foreign creditors, both official
(public) and private. Creditors often determine all the terms of the debt contracts, which
are normally subject to the jurisdiction of the foreign creditors or to international law
(for multilateral credits).
Foreign currency
public debt All debt liabilities of a national (federal) government that are expressed in (or linked to)
a currency different from the national currency of the country.
Government Bond A debt security issued by a national (federal) government to support governmentspending.
Government
Development
Bond (GDB) A bond issued by a national (federal) government to raise financing for funding one or
more specific projects or development work in geographic area.
Maturity The time until the debt is extinguished according to the contract between the debtor and
the creditor. In the statistical guidelines this time period is either from the date of
incurrence or reference (original/remaining maturity, respectively) of the debt liability
to the date at which the liability will be extinguished.
Publicly guaranteed debt Debt liabilities of public and private sector units, the servicing of which is contractually
guaranteed by public sector units. These guarantees consist of loan and other payment
guarantees, which are a specific type of oneoff guarantees.
Special Drawing
Rights (SDR) International reserve assets created by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and
allocated to its members to supplement reserve assets.
Total public debt Total debt liabilities of a government with both domestic and foreign creditors.
Traded/tradable
debt Debt securities traded (or tradable) in organized and other financial markets such as
bills, bonds, negotiable certificates of deposits, assetbacked securities, etc.
Treasury Bill
(TBill) A (usually) shortterm (less than one year) marketable fixed interest rate debt security
issued by a national (federal) government. Bills give holders the unconditional rights to
receive stated fixed sums on a specified date.
Treasury Bond
(TBond) A longterm marketable fixed interest rate debt security issued by a national (federal)
government. Bonds give the holders the unconditional right to fixed payments or
contractually determined variable payments on a specified date or dates.
Zerocoupon bond A longterm security that does not involve periodic payments during the life of the bond.A single payment, that includes accrued interest, is made at maturity.
Sources: Reinhard, C., and Rogoff, R. (2011). From Financial Crash to Debt Crisis, American Economic Review 101,
p. 1702; Investopedia; Task Force on Finance Statistics (TFFS).