Government bonds
A bond is an interest-bearing security with an original maturity of more than 1 year.
Government bonds have a fixed interest rate (called the coupon rate) which determines the amount of interest payable on a specific date once a year, over the life of the bond. At maturity, the bondholder is paid the face value of the bond in addition to the coupon rate. Information concerning government bonds usually includes both the coupon rate and the date of maturity. Each bond is registered in the Norwegian Central Securities Depository with a special International Securities Identification Number (ISIN). The bond's coupon rate reflects the market rate at the time that the bond was first issued. Therefore, there are different coupon rates on different bonds since market rates have varied over time.
Norwegian government bonds are normally issued with a maturity of between two and eleven years. Four to six benchmark loans which cover the benchmark yield curve have been established.