Norges Bank

Economic Commentaries

Higher risk premiums on government debt

Author:
Tom Bernhardsen and Terje Åmås
Series:
Economic Commentaries
Number:
1/2009

In this commentary we examine liquidity and credit premiums in euro-area government securities markets. For countries with a common currency and monetary policy, differences in government bond yields largely reflect different risk premiums across countries. The tendency is that higher government debt, higher government budget deficits, weaker current account balances, lower credit ratings and higher credit premiums have resulted in higher government bond yields in the euro area.

This series consists of short, signed articles on current economic issues and are only published on Norges Bank’s website.

Published 25 March 2009 10:30
Published 25 March 2009 10:30