Federal Government Debt at end January 2005

Press release from the Belgian Debt Agency

The Belgian Federal Government Debt amounted to EUR 279.52 billion as of 31 January 2005. Debt issued or taken over by the federal government amounted to EUR 269.42 billion, and the institutions for which the federal government supports the debt service, registered a debt of EUR 10.10 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 273.67 billion, representing an increase of EUR 8.32 billion compared to the previous month. This increase is due for a great part to the taking over of the National Railways Company's historical debt by the Fund for Railway Infrastructure for a total amount of 7.4 billion. 1.44 billion of this amount has already been redeemed by the Treasury, which means that the increase of the debt due to the taking over of the National Railways debt amounted to 5.96 billion at the end of January 2005.