Public Debt Management Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Debt Management Office Analysts, Central Bank Market Operations Staff and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-PFM-016

Before you join: Participants should have basic familiarity with government budgeting, treasury operations, public finance or financial markets.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Governments must finance budget deficits and refinance maturing obligations without creating avoidable interest, rollover, currency or liquidity risk. A domestic debt programme can fail even where borrowing authority is clear: fragmented cash information produces last-minute issuance; irregular auctions weaken investor confidence; weak records obscure liabilities; and unclear ministry-central bank roles create conflicting signals. Debt managers need a defensible strategy that links fiscal financing requirements, market conditions and risk limits to a credible annual borrowing plan.

This course develops the practical disciplines required to manage domestic public debt from strategy through issuance, settlement, reporting and risk control. Participants examine the legal and institutional mandate for debt management, construct a Medium-Term Debt Management Strategy, prepare borrowing and auction calendars, and connect debt operations with treasury cash forecasting. They assess instrument choice, benchmark issuance, primary dealer arrangements, secondary-market liquidity, refinancing exposure and interest-rate risk. The course also addresses operational controls, debt statistics, fiscal reporting, contingency funding and communications during market disruption.

Teaching combines concise technical briefings with public debt cases, facilitated group analysis, auction and cash-management simulations, and structured application planning. Participants work with realistic debt portfolios, maturity profiles, cash forecasts and auction results drawn from government financing settings. They leave with a Debt Management Action Pack containing reusable templates for a borrowing plan, risk register, auction calendar, cash forecast and operational control checklist.

The course is suited to professionals in finance ministries, central banks, debt management offices and public treasuries who contribute to domestic borrowing decisions or the systems supporting them. It is also relevant to fiscal policy, budget, accounting and market-operations staff whose work affects government financing outcomes.

What you will be able to do

  • Develop a Medium-Term Debt Management Strategy using cost-risk analysis and portfolio targets
  • Prepare an annual borrowing plan linked to fiscal financing needs and cash forecasts
  • Design an auction calendar with suitable instruments, maturities, issuance volumes and settlement dates
  • Assess refinancing, interest-rate, currency and liquidity risks using defined debt indicators
  • Apply primary dealer, auction allocation and market communication arrangements to domestic issuance
  • Construct a 13-week rolling cash forecast for debt-service and financing decisions
  • Establish front, middle and back-office controls for debt recording, settlement and reconciliation
  • Produce a debt management action plan with priorities, owners, milestones and control evidence

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Ability to contribute credible inputs to annual borrowing and auction plans
  • Practical methods for identifying refinancing and interest-rate risk concentrations
  • Greater confidence discussing issuance decisions with treasury and central-bank colleagues
  • Reusable templates for cash forecasting, risk registers and operational controls
  • Clearer preparation for debt office, treasury and market-operations responsibilities

For your organisation

  • More predictable domestic issuance aligned with fiscal cash requirements
  • Earlier identification of refinancing peaks and debt-service vulnerabilities
  • Stronger coordination between finance ministry, treasury and central-bank functions
  • Improved controls over auction processing, settlement and debt-data reconciliation
  • Clearer investor communication and more disciplined market-development activity

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can define a clear institutional mandate, accountability structure and reporting perimeter for domestic debt management.

  • Statutory borrowing authority, delegation limits and institutional accountability arrangements
  • Debt management objectives: cost, risk, market development and fiscal discipline
  • Roles of ministry, central bank, debt office and fiscal agent
  • Debt management mandates translated into measurable annual performance indicators
  • DeMPA dimensions used to diagnose governance and operational weaknesses
  • Public debt definitions under GFSM 2014 and national legislation
  • Contingent liabilities, guarantees and on-lending within the public-sector perimeter

Participants can formulate a medium-term debt strategy using baseline analysis, scenarios and portfolio targets.

  • Debt portfolio baseline reconstructed by instrument, currency, holder and maturity
  • Medium-Term Debt Management Strategy links fiscal needs to borrowing choices
  • Cost-risk analysis compares refinancing, interest-rate and foreign-exchange exposures
  • Scenario analysis tests baseline, shock and alternative financing paths
  • Strategic benchmark portfolio defines target composition and risk tolerances
  • Annual borrowing plan converts strategy into issuance volumes and dates
  • Approval governance documents deviations, decisions and strategy review triggers

Participants can connect government cash forecasts, cash buffers and short-term instruments with debt issuance decisions.

  • 13-week rolling cash forecast combines revenues, payroll, transfers and debt service
  • Treasury single account balances inform daily financing and investment decisions
  • Cash-buffer policy sets minimum balances, triggers and funding sources
  • Forecast-error analysis separates timing variance from estimation error
  • Short-term instruments bridge mismatches without distorting strategic issuance
  • Coordination protocols align debt managers, budget offices and central-bank operations
  • Seasonality profiles identify predictable peaks in receipts and payments

Participants can select domestic debt instruments and maturities consistent with financing, risk and market-development objectives.

  • Fixed-rate bonds, floating-rate notes, bills and inflation-linked securities compared
  • Instrument selection matches investor demand, risk objectives and market capacity
  • Currency composition distinguishes domestic-currency funding from foreign-currency exposure
  • Maturity ladder analysis identifies refinancing concentrations and redemption peaks
  • Benchmark issuance concentrates liquidity in selected maturities and lines
  • New instrument approvals assess legal authority, systems and market readiness
  • Islamic financing structures considered where domestic market mandates require them

Participants can design an orderly auction programme and manage key relationships with primary dealers.

  • Auction-calendar design balances predictability, cash needs and benchmark-building
  • Multiple-price and uniform-price auctions compared for allocation incentives
  • Competitive and non-competitive bids set access rules for investors
  • Cut-off yield determination follows preapproved allocation and rejection rules
  • Primary dealer obligations cover quoting, participation, reporting and market-making
  • Switch auctions and buybacks manage redemption peaks and benchmark liquidity
  • Results announcements disclose allotments, yields, coverage ratios and settlement dates

Participants can assess market liquidity and communicate borrowing plans to support reliable domestic funding.

  • Primary-market issuance supports a liquid, transparent secondary government securities market
  • Yield curves derived from traded prices, quotes and bootstrapping conventions
  • Bid-ask spreads, turnover and concentration diagnose market liquidity
  • Repo markets support dealer financing, collateral mobility and monetary operations
  • Investor-base mapping assesses banks, pension funds, insurers and foreign investors
  • Market communication calendar coordinates strategy publication, auctions and data releases
  • Central-bank monetary operations separated from debt-management objectives and decisions

Participants can measure debt portfolio exposures, set risk limits and report emerging vulnerabilities.

  • Risk register records refinancing, interest-rate, currency, liquidity and operational exposures
  • Average time to maturity and refixing measure rollover vulnerability
  • Cost-at-risk analysis estimates debt-service sensitivity under interest-rate shocks
  • Foreign-exchange stress tests quantify budget effects of currency depreciation
  • Contingent-liability monitoring covers guarantees, public enterprises and public-private partnerships
  • Derivatives policy defines permitted instruments, controls, collateral and counterparty limits
  • Risk limits, early-warning indicators and escalation thresholds support governance

Participants can apply operational controls for debt transactions, settlement, reconciliation and business continuity.

  • Front, middle and back-office segregation establishes control and independent verification
  • Trade capture fields support accurate confirmation, settlement and portfolio records
  • Delivery-versus-payment controls reduce principal risk during securities settlement
  • Business continuity plans cover auction disruption, cyber incidents and staff absence
  • Reconciliation routines compare auction records, custodian statements and general ledger
  • Counterparty due diligence establishes legal documentation and exposure limits
  • Operational risk events logged, investigated and reported through control owners

Participants can produce reliable debt data and reports for fiscal management, investors and oversight bodies.

  • Debt statistical bulletin reconciles face value, market value and arrears
  • GFSM 2014 classifications distinguish debt instruments, sectors and residence
  • Debt-service projections feed fiscal frameworks, budgets and financing plans
  • IPSAS 41 principles identify recognition, measurement and disclosure requirements
  • Debt sustainability indicators distinguish solvency, liquidity and rollover pressures
  • Investor presentations explain borrowing plans, risks and market-development priorities
  • Data-quality controls test completeness, timeliness, consistency and audit trails

Participants can prepare contingency responses and a prioritised improvement plan for their debt-management function.

  • Financing shock scenarios assess market closure, failed auctions and revenue shortfalls
  • Contingency funding ladder sequences cash buffers, bills, buybacks and facilities
  • Emergency communication protocol assigns messages, approvals, audiences and publication channels
  • Decision log records triggers, authorities, alternatives and post-event review
  • Annual debt-management workplan assigns milestones, owners, dependencies and evidence
  • Personal application plan prioritises three improvements for participants' home institutions
  • Peer review tests plans against legal mandates and operational constraints

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Medium-Term Debt Management Strategy template
  2. Annual borrowing and auction calendar template
  3. 13-week government cash forecast model
  4. Public debt portfolio risk register
  5. Debt operations control and reconciliation checklist
  6. Debt management improvement action plan

Who should attend

  • Debt Management Office Analysts — need to translate financing needs into controlled borrowing programmes
  • Central Bank Market Operations Staff — coordinate government securities issuance and settlement arrangements
  • Treasury Directors — manage cash balances, short-term funding and debt-service obligations
  • Ministry of Finance Budget Officers — connect fiscal plans with annual financing requirements
  • Public Debt Accountants — improve debt recording, reconciliation, valuation and fiscal reporting
  • Primary Dealer Relationship Managers — manage auction participation and government securities market arrangements

Skills and tools covered

Debt strategy formulationCash flow forecastingAuction programme designPortfolio risk analysisDebt operations controlMarket communication

Tools and standards

Medium-Term Debt Management Strategy (MTDS), Debt Management Performance Assessment (DeMPA), IMF Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014, IPSAS 41 Financial Instruments

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to establish debt-management concepts, followed by public-sector cases, portfolio reviews and guided group work. Participants analyse a realistic government debt profile, prepare cash and borrowing assumptions, compare issuance choices and interpret auction results. Simulations examine cash shortfalls, refinancing concentrations and market disruption. Facilitated discussions address ministry-central bank coordination, primary dealer arrangements and control failures. Each participant completes an application plan using templates that can be adapted to their institution.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have basic familiarity with government budgeting, treasury operations, public finance or financial markets. Experience working in a ministry of finance, central bank, public treasury, debt office, public accounting unit or related institution is useful. Participants should be comfortable interpreting tables of borrowing amounts, interest rates, maturities and cash flows. Prior experience of debt auctions, portfolio modelling or derivatives is not required. The course does not assume advanced economics, quantitative finance, programming skills or prior use of specialist debt-management software.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should understand basic public finance, treasury operations or financial-market concepts and be able to interpret debt tables. Advanced economics, quantitative modelling and prior auction experience are not required.

Bring a laptop if possible, together with any non-confidential borrowing plans, debt reports or cash-management procedures relevant to your role. Course materials and templates are provided.

It is designed for staff in debt management offices, finance ministries, central banks and public treasuries. It also suits budget, accounting and market-operations professionals who support domestic government borrowing.

This course focuses on managing the domestic debt programme: strategy, instruments, auctions, cash coordination, settlement and risk controls. Debt sustainability analysis is addressed as an input to financing decisions rather than as the main subject.

Participants receive practical templates for a borrowing plan, auction calendar, cash forecast, risk register and operational checklist. These can be adapted to their institution's legal mandate, systems and market structure.

The five-day programme runs from 08:30 to 16:30 each day, with about 6.5 contact hours daily. Time is divided between technical briefings, cases, simulations, group analysis and action planning across ten teaching modules.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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