Government debt continues to fall

At the end of the third quarter of 2000 the Dutch government debt amounted to 178.1 billion euros, 1.8 billion euros less than at the end of the second quarter. This decrease is smaller than that in the preceding quarter.

Funded government debt

The net unfunded debt also fell in the third quarter. This balance of short-term claims and debts was 5 billion euros smaller. This is the first time since the third quarter of 1999 that the unfunded debt has dropped.

The government has paid just under 2.7 billion euros in regular repayments on the funded debt. Moreover, it is currently restructuring the public debt; to this end it redeemed just over 4 billion euros of public debt in four blocks between May and the end of September 2000

Marga Hüttner