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The Future of the Commonwealth Government Securities Market. Two Broad Themes. fiscal context for the Commonwealth’s debt management operations establishment of the AOFM. Commonwealth Headline Cash Balance*.
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Two Broad Themes • fiscal context for the Commonwealth’s debt management operations • establishment of the AOFM
Commonwealth Headline Cash Balance* * Following recent changes in the Australian National Accounts Standards, the underlying and headline cash balance estimates in the chart from 1998-99 onwards include payments by the Commonwealth in respect of accumulated PTE superannuation liabilities.
Fiscal Context • Australia in the vanguard of OECD countries in addressing a new set of debt management policy issues • benefits of maintaining sovereign curve
Fiscal Context • Government position set out in Budget • a managed reduction in CGS • not to the full extent of projected reduction in net debt
Fiscal Context • maintaining the curve offers a number of benefits, including: • supports a range of domestic derivative and related markets • consistent with further development of Australia as a centre for global financial services
Operational and Strategic Challenges • a number of major operational and risk management challenges ahead • balance between gross new debt issue, selected debt repurchase, yield curve consolidation • efficient execution within a rigorous risk framework very demanding of systems and resources
AOFM • Australian Office of Financial Management established from 1 July 1999 • management of these challenges an important consideration • but establishment of AOFM properly seen in a much longer-term, broader-based context
AOFM • rising tide of financial sector deregulation, technological innovation and globalisation of markets over past 10-15 years • fundamentally changed financial markets environment • balance of risks, challenges and opportunities facing all debt managers
AOFM • across the OECD, clear trend through the 90s towards increasing efficiency in public sector service delivery • power, transport, telecommunications
AOFM • Australia among the leaders in the OECD in pursuing a complementary focus on reform of public sector financial management • Charter of Budget Honesty • Accrual budgeting, reporting and accounting
AOFM • Commonwealth ahead of the OECD sovereign curve in recognising the need to conduct debt management with an explicit financial risk management framework • market risk of the debt portfolio a particular management focus • introduced new management challenges in terms of credit and operational risk
AOFM • risk management focus provides a framework for making such choices about risk • these additional risks taken on consciously and explicitly in pursuit of an optimal risk-return trade-off • very demanding of systems and resources • implications for institutional arrangements?
AOFM • four-tiered management hierarchy for any borrower with a risk management orientation to debt management • philosophical approach • operating framework • measurement and reporting framework • organisational structure • clear need for internal consistency among the four elements of the hierarchy
AOFM • establishment of the AOFM not merely a ‘band-aid’ response to the prospective operational challenges of maintaining the liquidity and efficiency of the Commonwealth curve
AOFM • much more about providing operational capability, systems and resources • address inconsistencies between the philosophical commitment to financial risk management and the other three elements of the hierarchy • which have undermined the capacity to deliver the full benefits of a risk framework
AOFM • as with any corporate treasury function, sovereign debt management is a business exposed to a variety of financial risks • fiduciary responsibility to taxpayers • but critical distinctions between sovereign and a corporate as well
AOFM • the sovereign, in its policy setting role, has the capacity to directly influence key financial market prices • sheer weight of the sovereign as the largest issuer in the domestic market
AOFM • sovereign curve provides the risk free pricing benchmark • sovereign securities a primary hedging vehicle for the markets
AOFM • over-arching philosophical position of the AOFM
AOFM • eschew the potential short-term gains • pursue the longer-term benefits of market confidence, liquidity and cost savings that accrue to responsible, transparent debt management, good communication and genuine citizenship
AOFM • Details of the role and operations of the AOFM over the period ahead