After increasing by 30 percentage points since the onset of the crisis, over the last few years the debtto-GDP ratio has remained essentially stable thanks to the improvement in growth and to the primary surpluses. Furthermore, the high average residual maturity – more than 7 years – significantly tempers the sensitivity of the cost of debt to interest rate shocks.
The Bank has taken a number of initiatives to further modernize the payments system among which are the Cheque Truncation Project, the implementation of the International Bank Identification Number (IBAN) and the upgrading of the MACSS.