Long-term interest rates for assessing convergence in the Acceding Countries

Source: Eurostat (ESTAT) i, published on Thursday, April 29 2004, 1:54.

Today Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, and the European Central Bank publish, for the first time, statistics on long-term interest rates for the ten Acceding Countries that will join the European Union on 1 May 2004.

At present, harmonised long-term interest rates are available for nine of the Acceding Countries. These interest rates will be used to assess the degree of convergence of these countries, as required under Article 121 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (the Treaty). Simultaneously, a separate interest rate indicator for Estonia is published. This indicator will be closely monitored and will be replaced as soon as a better indicator becomes available.

The interest rates1 have been defined jointly by the European Central Bank, the national central banks of the Acceding Countries and Eurostat. At present, monthly series covering the period from February 2003 to February 2004 are shown. Monthly updates of these statistics will be posted on the websites of Eurostat2 and the European Central Bank2.

Under Article 121 of the Treaty, the convergence of long-term interest rates is one of the criteria for assessing the achievement of a high degree of sustainable convergence for Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Article 4 of the Protocol on the convergence criteria annexed to the Treaty states that interest rates should be measured on the basis of long-term government bonds or comparable securities. The statistical framework for the Acceding Countries follows the same principles that were applied to the current EU Member States in the run-up to Stage Three of EMU.

    For further details of methodology, see Eurostat, Statistics in Focus, Economy and Finance, 21/2004, "Long-term interest rates for Acceding Countries"

    See for monthly data: Euro indicators - Long term government bond yields or

    http://www.ecb.int/

Issued by:

Eurostat Press Office

Philippe BAUTIER

BECH Building

L-2920 LUXEMBOURG

Tel: +352-4301 33 444

Fax: +352-4301 35 349

eurostat-pressoffice@cec.eu.int

For further information:

Giuliano AMERINI

Tel: +352-4301-34 122

Fax: +352-4301-32 929

giuliano.amerini@cec.eu.int

Eurostat news releases on the Internet:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/eurostat

Harmonised long-term interest rates for convergence assessment purposes*

(in % per annum; period averages; secondary market yields of government bonds with maturities of close to ten years**)

'

Feb 03Mar 03Apr 03May 03Jun 03Jul 03Aug 03Sep 03Oct 03Nov 03Dec 03Jan 04Feb 04
Czech Republic3.813.753.923.733.494.064.234.264.474.754.824.684.80
Cyprus4.834.834.804.634.634.594.594.594.644.754.754.754.79
Latvia4.774.994.994.954.894.784.804.964.985.015.075.065.05
Lithuania5.675.675.655.635.505.385.045.044.824.814.814.814.81
Hungary6.346.416.335.976.336.867.117.067.087.828.248.368.65
Malta5.515.405.255.145.114.954.784.734.684.704.714.714.70
Poland5.665.525.415.125.035.375.615.936.366.906.766.676.82
Slovenia6.656.656.656.656.656.656.656.656.165.545.275.145.01
Slovakia4.925.014.904.724.704.804.925.025.085.365.425.165.11

Sources: ECB and European Commission.

    * As Estonia has very limited government debt, there are currently no suitable long-term government bonds available on the financial market. See below for an interest rate indicator for Estonia.

    ** For Cyprus and Lithuania, primary market yields are reported. The same applies to Slovenia up to October 2003.

Interest rate indicator for Estonia*

(in % per annum; period averages)

'

Feb 03Mar 03Apr 03May 03Jun 03Jul 03Aug 03Sep 03Oct 03Nov 03Dec 03Jan 04Feb04
Estonia5.595.305.365.034.975.044.844.794.904.864.754.694.77

Sources: ECB and European Commission.