Although the debt market is relatively small, its growth has been rapid since, over the last few years, Switzerland's former budget surpluses have increasingly turned into deficits. Substantially improved liquidity in the SGB market is in sharp contrast to an illiquid SGN market, shrinking in size and number of issues. And according to the Swiss Treasury, there are no plans for a SGN issue in 1996. Net issuance is forecast to be SFr 2.7 billion and SFr 5 billion gross. Auction size will range from SFr 300 to 1000 million, with maturities of 7 to 20 years.
All bonds have a reopening clause which allows the government to add liquidity to existing issues.
The issue size for SGNs ranges from SFr40 to 250 million. All existing SGNs will mature before 2001. SGBs and SGNs are issued in bearer form. SGBs are listed on the Swiss stock exchanges in Zurich, Geneva, and Basle. However, EBS is expected to become operational later in the year.