Public debt management is a system of financial measures carried out by the state with the aim of repaying loans, as well as paying income on these loans, changing the terms and conditions of loans issued, issuing regular debt obligations. This is one of the priority areas of the state financial policy .
The decision-making on the choice of public debt management methods is mainly influenced by such factors: the share of expenses on servicing the public debt in the total amount of budget expenditures and the percentage of GDP and the amount of government borrowing.
When assessing the external public debt, the following ratios are used: the ratio of the amount of external borrowing and the volume of export and the share of expenditures going to pay off the external public debt to the amount of export proceeds.
Public debt management is an ongoing process in which three stages are sequentially distinguished: 1 - placement of securities in order to attract financial resources, 2 - repayment of a public debt, 3 - servicing of a public debt.
The public debt is repaid at the expense of the budget, foreign exchange reserves, money earned from the sale of state property, as well as through new borrowings.
Public debt management includes two large groups of methods : financial and administrative.
Financial methods consist in choosing the forms and methods by which the state will repay the public debt, taking into account financial indicators. They are aimed at achieving maximum efficiency from attracting loans and finding ways to reduce the costs associated with their repayment to a minimum.
Administrative methods are based on the rapid implementation of orders of state authorities. Their functions do not include evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of actions related to public debt management.
The main measures that states resort to when managing a public debt are as follows.
In the face of growing debts and budget deficits, a country has the right to resort to such measures as refinancing public debt — issuing new loans to pay off old debts.
Conversion is a state change in the yield of existing loans. As a rule, the state resorts to a reduction in the amount of loan payments in percentage terms in order to reduce the costs incurred in managing public debt.
Consolidation - means making changes to the terms of loans related to their terms. Their change usually occurs in the direction of increase.
Unification of loans - consolidation into one of several existing loans. Moreover, previously issued bonds are exchanged for new ones. Often, unification is carried out along with consolidation.
The cancellation of public debt is a radical measure in which the state refuses all obligations related to the issued loan.
The management of public debt in Russia in recent years is characterized by a gradual decrease in the relative and absolute indicators of public debt. The percentage of debt to GDP at face value is decreasing .
Management of public debt is carried out by the Government of the Russian Federation , within the framework of its powers, which are established by the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.
It consists in the formation of the policy pursued in relation to the public debt, the establishment of debt limits, the determination of goals and directions of influence on the micro and macro level indicators, and the establishment of the feasibility of financing the public debt through national programs. All this is realized through a system of measures that are associated with the issuance of debt obligations and its further servicing. This requires a comprehensive approach from state authorities and determines the diversity of regulation of emerging debt.