Dutch Tilt Bond Sales Toward Shorter Debt Amid Pension Shift

The Dutch government is tilting its borrowing toward shorter-term bonds in response to shifts in market demand and the expectation that an overhaul of the nation’s €1.7 trillion ($2 trillion) pension industry will further weaken buying of long-term securities.

The Netherlands reduced the target for the average maturity of its debt to a minimum of seven-and-a-half years, down from eight previously. That’s a “slight but clear structural shift” from the increases in maturities seen over the past decade, the nation’s treasury agency (DSTA) says.