Debt securities represent a promise on the part of the issuer (i.e. the borrower) to make one or more payment(s) to the holder (the lender) at a specified future date or dates.

General and persistent decline in prices

The Delors Report, presented in April 1989 by a group of experts comprising the governors of the national central banks, laid the foundations for the euro and defined the transition to EMU as a three-stage process. The provisions of the Maastricht Treaty are largely based on the ideas set out in that report.

A government body, which is part of the Belgian Federal Public Service Finance. The Office receives and administers all deposits, security deposits and consignments that are imposed pursuant to judicial or administrative decisions or as a consequence of laws and regulations.

A standing facility of the Eurosystem which counterparties may use to make overnight deposits, remunerated at a pre-specified interest rate, at a national central bank.

This rate defines the interest banks receive for depositing money with the central bank overnight. It is one of the three interest rates the ECB sets every six weeks as part of its monetary policy.

Cross-border investment that reflects the objective of obtaining a lasting interest in an entreprise resident in another economy.