This report is published under the auspices of the OECD Working Party on Debt Management (WPDM). It provides a comprehensive overview and detailed analysis of the cash management practices of OECD countries.
Following a proposal at the 2023 OECD Global Forum on Public Debt Management, the WPDM established the Ad Hoc Group on Cash Management. The aim was to exchange its members' experience and knowledge, facilitate peer learning, and identify and formulate sound policies and practices in cash management.
The group consists of delegates from 22 OECD and OECD accession countries with specific experience in or responsibility for cash management. Chaired by Thomas Anthony Linehan, WPDM vice-chair and Deputy Director of Ireland’s Funding and Debt Management in the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA), the group operated with the support of the OECD Secretariat for approximately 12 months between November 2023 and November 2024. The group carried out its activities in three sub-groups: ‘Cash flow forecasting’ under the leadership of Ireland, ‘Liquidity risk management and policy’ under the leadership of the United Kingdom and ‘Cash instruments’ under the leadership of Italy.
The insights shared by the group through a series of meetings and documents are captured in this report. This includes peer-learning exchanges through virtual and in-person meetings in Dublin in April 2024, and Paris in June 2024. The OECD Directorate for Public Governance also provided valuable feedback.
This report is structured into three thematic chapters focusing on cash flow forecasting, liquidity risk management and policy, and cash instruments, supplemented by an introductory chapter on the contextual and institutional factors for cash management. Annex A provides a glossary with agreed definitions for key elements of cash management.
The countries analysed in each chapter vary, reflecting the contribution of members to the respective topics. Additionally, some sections of this report also draw on the OECD Counterparty Risk in Cash Management Survey, held in 2023 with the contribution of 32 countries.