Exclusive: Belgian DMO Head: We Can Always Reopen 30-year Bonds Via Auction if Enough Demand

28 March 2025

By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – Belgium could deliver an issuance in the 30-year maturity bucket via auction this year if there is enough demand, according to Maric Post, Director of Treasury and Capital Markets of the Belgian Debt Agency.

In an interview with Econostream on March 14 (transcript here), Post said that Belgium had considered issuing a 30-year bond this year, as suggested by primary dealers.

Delivering a 30-year bond issuance via auction at some point in 2025 was ‘certainly on the table’, he said.

‘I expect that at least at some of our auctions there will be demand for the 30-year bond and it would be quite normal to issue in that maturity bucket throughout the year’, he said.

Belgium was not considering issuing a defence bond for retail investors as it had been rumoured, but it was one of the options to fund increased defence spending, according to Post.

‘One of the things that's already been floated in the press was to launch a defence bond to the retail public, given the past success of this retail bond [issued in September 2023]’, he said.

Despite regarding it as ‘an option’, Post said that it was the government’s prerogative to decide which method would ultimately be chosen to fund defence expenditures.

He denied that the Belgian Debt Agency was pondering this option and said it was ‘not more than an idea.’

‘If the government requests it, then of course it’s something that we will look into’, he said.

Regarding the success of the Belgian Debt Agency’s retail issuance in September 2023, Post said it had to do with the fact that it had a special tax advantage.

‘Last year we've seen some retail investors rolling over that maturing bond, but no longer with a tax advantage, so amounts were a lot smaller’, he said.

Asked if more retail issuances with a tax advantage could be expected, Post said that it was ‘not on the agenda for the moment.’

Post ruled out the issuance of a new green bond in 2025, as ‘the only remaining syndication is going to be the 5-year bond and that’s probably too short to make it a green bond.’

A new issuance in this market would have to wait for 2026 at the earliest, he said.

The reopening of any or both of the existing green bonds would depend on market demand, according to Post.

The agency could possibly issue a USD-denominated bond, he indicated, as the USD was ‘probably the closest contender’ among potential foreign currency issuances.