Each year, the OECD circulates a survey on the borrowing needs of member countries. The responses are incorporated in the OECD Sovereign Borrowing Outlook to provide regular updates of trends and developments associated with sovereign borrowing requirements and debt levels from the perspective of public debt managers. The Outlook makes a policy distinction between funding strategy and borrowing requirements. The central government marketable gross borrowing needs, or requirements, are calculated on the basis of budget deficits and redemptions. The funding strategy entails decisions on how borrowing needs are going to be financed using different instruments (e.g. long-term, short-term, nominal, indexed, etc.) and distribution channels.

Accordingly, the OECD Sovereign Borrowing Outlook provides data and information on borrowing needs and funding policies for the OECD area and country groupings, including gross borrowing requirements, net borrowing requirements, central government marketable debt, funding strategies and instruments and distribution channels.