Government bond

A government bond is a bond issued by a national government, generally with a promise to pay periodic interest payments and to repay the face value on the maturity date. Government bonds are usually denominated in the country's own currency. Another term similar to government bond is "sovereign bond". Technically any bond issued by a sovereign entity is a sovereign bond but sometimes the term is used to refer to bonds issued in a currency other than the sovereign's currency. If a government or sovereign is close to default on its debt the media often refer to this as a sovereign debt crisis.

The terms on which a government can sell bonds depend on how creditworthy the market considers it to be. International credit rating agencies will provide ratings for the bonds, but market participants will make up their own minds about this.

History

The first general government bonds were issued in the Netherlands in 1517. Because the Netherlands did not exist at that time, the bonds issued by the city of Amsterdam are considered their predecessor which later merged into Netherlands government bonds. The average interest rate at that time fluctuated around 20%.