On 1 May and for one year, Enabel and LuxDev took on the co-presidency of the European Practitioners' Network.

The Practitioners' Network brings together 17 European governmental agencies with a view of jointly implementing projects of the European Development Cooperation. The network is the partner of choice of the European Commission for executing European development projects worldwide.

In line with the EU’s intended increased European cooperation, the network is the means of excellence to give form to #TeamEurope in the field.

"The development agencies of the EU Member States lead by example and work closely together. The Practitioners' Network leverages the European efforts to tackle the global challenges," said Jean Van Wetter, Managing Director of Enabel.

During a video conference with Koen Doens, Director-General of the European Commission’s department for International Cooperation and Development, and the CEOs of all partners, Jean Van Wetter highlighted the added value of the European Member State agencies as strategic and priority partners to implement the European Union development policy in partner countries.

"The Presidency," he said, "wishes to make concrete progress in terms of joint actions, in particular between small and big, and young and well-established agencies, not only from a financial point of view, but also through more strategic and technical exchange. Therefore, the ambition is to create a Team Europe Task Force within the PN which will stimulate the dialogue and elaborate a concrete partnership resulting in a significant portfolio of actions carried out by consortia of agencies. It will definitely reinforce the message of a coordinated European action."

The Presidency also believes that the reinforcement of health systems and managing the socio-economic impact of the COVID crisis are immediate priorities. In the medium term, climate change and the implementation of the Green Deal in Africa will be the key theme to be addressed. The Team Europe Task Force will have to play a lead role in elaborating joint flagship initiatives on these themes to be implemented in partnerships with the European Commission services and with strong partner countries’ ownership.

For more on the Practitioners' Network: www.dev-practitioners.eu

The Belgian Debt Agency informs you that it has accepted bids of Treasury certificates for a total amount of EUR 2.201 billion, distributed into the following lines :

ISIN Code : BE0312772446 - 10/09/2020
Amount taken (EUR billion): 0.986
Weighted average yield : -0.464 %
Bid-to-cover ratio : 2.33

ISIN Code : BE0312773451 - 12/11/2020
Amount taken (EUR billion): 1.215
Weighted average yield : -0.463 %
Bid-to-cover ratio : 1.99

See our Reuters page BELG/TC or Bloomberg page BEDA - TC Auctions - Results.

The Belgian Debt Agency informs you that it has accepted bids for a total amount of EUR 2.836 billion, distributed into the following lines :

- OLO 0.90 % 22/06/2029 (OLO87)

ISIN code : BE0000347568

Amount taken (EUR billion): 1.379

Weighted average yield : 0.057 %

Bid-to-cover ratio : 1.260

- OLO 1.25 % 22/04/2033 (OLO86)

ISIN code : BE0000346552

Amount taken (EUR billion): 0.548

Weighted average yield : 0.262 %

Bid-to-cover ratio : 1.850

- OLO 2.15 % 22/06/2066 (OLO80)

ISIN code : BE0000340498

Amount taken (EUR billion): 0.909

Weighted average yield : 0.910 %

Bid-to-cover ratio : 2.050

See our Refinitiv page BELG/OLO or Bloomberg page BEDA - OLO Auctions - Results.

The Belgian Debt Agency informs you that the range for the upcoming auction on Monday, 20 April 2020, has been determined at EUR 1.5/3.0 billion.

3 OLO lines will be auctioned : 

1. OLO 0.90% 22/06/2029 ISIN BE0000347568 (OLO 87)
2. OLO 1.25% 22/04/2033 ISIN BE0000346552 (OLO 86)
3. OLO 2.15% 22/06/2066 ISIN BE0000340498 (OLO 80)
 

The Belgian Debt Agency has modified its 2020 funding plan in order to take account of the Kingdom’s increased funding needs resulting from the Covid-19 crisis. On April 8, 2020, the Economic Risk Management Group published its scenario consisting of a recession of 8.0%[1] in 2020 and a 2020 ESA government deficit of 7.5%. Federal government net borrowing would then amount to EUR 31.41 billion in 2020, representing an increase of EUR 21.81 billion compared to the original funding plan.

As a result, the 2020 gross funding requirements would rise to EUR 51.87 billion. These do take into account a lower amount of pre-funding as the Agency decided to stop buying back bonds maturing in 2022[2].

The Debt Agency plans to issue EUR 45.35 billion of medium and long term funding instruments instead of EUR 30.00 billion as foreseen in the original funding plan. As such OLO issuance would amount to EUR 42.85 billion in 2020. The Agency already issued a third new OLO benchmark (OLO91) on March 31, for an amount of EUR 8.0 billion, and it decided to add three OLO auctions to its auction calendar in May, August and October 2020. This should be sufficient to meet the new OLO issuance target. Overall, long-term funding stands at EUR 22.74 billion as of today, which leaves EUR 22.61 billion to be funded in the remainder of the year.

Short-term funding would also increase in 2020, as the outstanding amount of Treasury Certificates would rise by EUR 8.0 billion over the year. On the other hand, the net change in other short term debt would decrease to EUR -1.48 billion.

The Belgian Debt Agency does not anticipate a breach of its risk limits which would be caused by this extra funding. The average life of the debt portfolio would remain above 9.00 years, and the 12- and 60-month refinancing risks would remain below 17.50% and 42.50% respectively.

The Agency will of course continue to closely monitor the impacts of the measures to battle the corona virus. When needed, updated guidance on the financing plan will be given.

[1] The IMF expects a recession of 6.9% for Belgium (WEO 15/04/2020)

[2] See our March 30 press release

The Belgian Debt Agency informs you that the following 3 OLO lines will be auctioned on Monday, 20 April 2020 :

1.
Description : OLO 0.90% 22/06/2029
ISIN code : BE0000347568
OLO number : OLO 87
Outstanding : EUR 13.807.000.000.00

2.
Description : OLO 1.25% 22/04/2033
ISIN code : BE0000346552
OLO number : OLO 86
Outstanding : EUR 6.886.000.000.00

3.
Description : OLO 2.15% 22/06/2066
ISIN code : BE0000340498
OLO number : OLO 80
Outstanding : EUR 5.564.000.000.00

Payment date will be 22/04/2020. On Friday 17 April in the morning, the Belgian Debt Agency will announce the range of the amount to be auctioned.
 

The Belgian Debt Agency informs you that it has accepted bids of Treasury certificates for a total amount of EUR 2.745 billion, distributed into the following lines :

ISIN Code : BE0312771430 - 09/07/2020

Amount taken (EUR billion): 1.360

Weighted average yield : -0.414 %

Bid-to-cover ratio : 1.18

ISIN Code : BE0312775472 - 11/03/2021

Amount taken (EUR billion): 1.385

Weighted average yield : -0.421 %

Bid-to-cover ratio : 1.29

See our Reuters page BELG/TC or Bloomberg page BEDA - TC Auctions - Results.

The Belgian Debt Agency informs you that it has accepted bids of Treasury certificates for a total amount of EUR 2.280 billion, distributed into the following lines :

ISIN Code : BE0312771430 - 09/07/2020
Amount taken (EUR billion): 1.190
Weighted average yield : -0.459 %
Bid-to-cover ratio : 1.44

ISIN Code : BE0312773451 - 12/11/2020
Amount taken (EUR billion): 1.090
Weighted average yield : -0.466 %
Bid-to-cover ratio : 1.75

See our Reuters page BELG/TC or Bloomberg page BELG - TC Auctions - Results.

The Belgian Federal Government Debt amounted to EUR 414.66 billion as of 31 March 2020.

Debt issued or taken over by the federal government amounted to EUR 414.45 billion, and the institutions for which the federal government supports the debt service, registered a debt of EUR 0.21 billion.

In net terms (i.e. deducting financial deposits and investments, as well as securities owned by the Treasury), the Federal Government Debt amounted to EUR 399.07 billion.