Transcript: Interview with Austrian Treasury Managing Director Markus Stix on 4 December 2025

4 December 2025

By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – Following is the full transcript of the interview conducted by Econostream on 4 December 2025 with Markus Stix, Managing Director in charge of markets at the Austrian Treasury.

Q: What should markets expect in terms of your 2026 issuance plans, particularly the overall size of the program?

A: According to the 2026 funding outlook of the Republic of Austria, which we have published on December 4, the overall size of the program is pretty much similar to this year. On a gross basis we are planning to issue around €43-47 billion in government bonds (RAGB) next year, compared to around €45 billion in 2025. Since RAGB redemptions next year will be €10 billion higher than this year, net issuance will decrease substantially supporting this year’s strong secondary market performance of RAGBs into next year. Short-term debt instruments (including treasury bills and commercial paper) are intended to be increased by around €2-4 billion next year (vs. a forecasted short-term debt stock at year-end 2025 of around €19 billion).

Q: Do you still see three syndicated RAGB transactions as the structural norm for 2026, or could market conditions or product mix push that number higher or lower?

A: As gross RAGB issuance in 2026 is pretty similar to this year, we again aim for three Euro syndications. Furthermore, we rely on a well-proven funding mix of different types of issuances. In 2026 we continue to target to issue around 45% of RAGBs via auctions, around one third via syndications and around one fifth via bilateral taps and own quota issuance. This balanced and transparent approach is well appreciated by the market and also led to a significant increase of secondary market liquidity (plus 50% in the past two years).

Q: Can you give any preliminary guidance on the maturities you might favor for syndicated deals in 2026?

A: Like in the past years we will issue a new 10-year on-the-run benchmark. Besides that, we are always closely monitoring the market and try to balance the prevailing investor sentiment with our issuance goals. Additionally, due to our unique on-lending facility for federal states and affiliates, we always have to keep in mind their funding needs regarding tenors. When it comes to long term issuance, I would like to highlight that we already have a long average tenor in our portfolio, and the Republic of Austria is still a “niche issuer” in the Euro market. We will thoroughly follow the developments regarding the steepness of the curve and will not issue in the long end at any price.

Q: Is there a clear preference to raise a large share of total funding in Q1/Q2, or will you spread risk more evenly across the year?

A: As usual we will see some frontloading in the sovereign sector especially in the first quarter and probably also in the second quarter as investor demand is traditionally very high at the beginning of the year. In addition, there have been no new syndicated EGB issues since the end of September, which has led to a considerable backlog of excess demand. To sum up, yes, we will be active already at the start and the first half of the year, but we will also keep some powder dry for later in the year.

Q: How do you assess current demand for the ultra-long end, and under what conditions would you consider tapping the 100-year or issuing new ultra-long tenors in 2026?

A: The ultra-long sector is a very different segment for issuing, consisting of duration and convexity buyers. We see a certain level of demand in this special field and are generally open to opportunistic issuance, subject to yield levels and our internal portfolio limits, primarily via secondary market sales of our outstanding century bonds. However, we have no plans to issue a new century bond.

Q: Which segments of the curve are currently seeing the most resilient structural demand from your core investors? Has that shifted compared with 2024–25?

A: The investor sentiment changed somewhat in 2025. A large part of the demand came from bank treasuries, especially in the short- to medium-term maturities, which further increased compared to last year. According to statements by various banks, this structural demand will continue in 2026 but maybe a bit smaller this year. At the long end, demand from pension funds has partially declined, but this was largely offset by higher participation from insurance companies due to the upcoming Solvency II reform.

Q: Do you expect your strategy to be more opportunistic this year?

A: As a relatively small EGB issuer, we generally have greater operational flexibility and are able to respond quickly to investor demand. One good example of that is our Green CHF issuance this year with a volume of around €1.5 billion. Nevertheless, it is also important for the market to be predictable. Therefore, in our core funding programs, the issuance of RAGBs and ATBs, we have a clear and transparent strategy. As mentioned before, when it comes to RAGB issuance we have an intended split of around 45% of the volume issued via auctions, around one third via syndications and around one fifth via bilateral taps and own quote issuance.

Q: How large do you expect the green share of total funding to be in 2026?

A: New green funding will be around €6 billion in 2026. This means no big change compared to this year (forecasted to be around €6.1 billion), despite budgetary consolidation which also doesn’t stop at climate-related expenses. So, we will continue to perform our broad green issuance program in the upcoming year. Medium/long term green issuance will again form the base of our issuance, while short term funding will account for up to 20% of our green funding. The Austrian green issuance accounts for above 8% of total issuance which is very high if you compare it for example to the green issuance shares of other green sovereign issuers.

Q: Should investors expect another large syndicated Green RAGB?

A: Our two outstanding green bonds are getting closer to our target volume of around €9 billion (Green RAGB 2029: €6.4 billion; Green RAGB 2049: €8.2 billion). Therefore, issuing a new green line via syndication is one of many options next year.

Q: The Bundesschatz has become a real retail and (now) public-sector tool, with tenors from overnight to 10 years and green options. How material do you expect it to be as a funding source in 2026 – still marginal, or meaningfully reducing your market issuance needs?

A: The volume of Bundesschatz has already exceeded €6 billion, including more than €1 billion from public-sector entities and a roughly 25% green share in the retail product. Overall, we expect this positive development to continue going forward, nevertheless it is not anticipated to have a material impact on our market issuance needs.

Q: If Bundesschatz inflows stay strong, could they materially reduce your need for RAGB issuance in 2026?

A: No. We do not foresee any material impact on RAGB issuance in 2026 due to the Bundesschatz program.

Q: Will you expand the Bundesschatz tenor or product range further in 2026 (e.g. more green tenors, different maturities), or is the current configuration close to ‘steady state’?

A: There are no plans at the moment to add additional tenors to our Bundesschatz program. But we have the possibility to adapt it to specific needs of certain customer groups, like we did for example this year for fiduciary funds, notaries and lawyers.

Q: Several European sovereigns have introduced dedicated “defense bonds,” sometimes aimed at retail. Is this something Austria is considering?

A: No, there are no plans in this regard. Austria’s neutrality is enshrined in its constitution and there is no discussion to change this at the moment. In terms of thematic issuance, our clear focus is on our extensive holistic green funding program.

Q: You issued and then reopened your first CHF green bond in 2025. How has investor engagement evolved since then, and would a further reopening in 2026 be consistent with your strategy for this line?

A: After being absent in the Swiss franc market for 16 years, we have issued five green bonds in eight transactions with a total volume of CHF 1.425 billion (around €1.5 billion), ranging from 7- to 20-year maturities. We have thus been the largest SSA issuer in the Swiss franc market this year. The investor panel consisted largely of new CHF investors who would have remained absent in EUR transactions, underscoring the importance of a diversified funding programme. Next year we have new green eligible expenditures, and we will again have a look at the CHF market. However, as with all FX issuances, we require a funding cost advantage compared to an equivalent EUR issuance including hedging costs.

Q: What should we expect from you in terms of foreign currency issuance in 2026?

A: In general FX issuances are done on an opportunistic basis and are only carried out if there is a funding cost advantage vs. EUR taking into account hedging costs. It is therefore not possible to exactly forecast what we will be doing next year.

Q: Are you considering more active liability-management operations—buybacks, switches, tenders—in 2026, especially if cash balances from bills and Bundesschatz remain elevated?

A: No.

Q: Do you aim to diversify the regional composition of your investor base in 2026—for example, increasing placements in Asia or North America—or are you broadly satisfied with the current profile?

A: We already have a well-diversified investor base, which is also regularly shown in our syndication statistics. Our investor base is strongly rooted in Europe and the Euro-area in particular. Within that we have seen this year a larger participation of Austrian, German and French investors, while Dutch investors have been less active. Despite the euro area being our home market, we also have a strong focus of our investor relations work on overseas investor like Asia as they also form an important part of our investor base.