The swap operation consists in exchanging actual debt maturing in a specific period of time (usually in a short or medium term) against other debt (new treasury bills) maturing later.

The SWAP operation resulted in smoother near term public debt maturity structure, and allowed the government to lengthen the profile of the public debt. Moreover, financing needs for 2005 were reduced by the amount of the exchange transaction equal to USD 1,186,532,000 and the new issued cash subscriptions equal to USD 353,468,000 provided additional support to meet financing needs of the government.

The 55 percent rate registered during the exchange transaction represented the highest level of participation among similar exchange transactions of comparable sovereigns whose rates ranged between 12 percent and 44 percent. For more details, you can consult the "Brief Note on Exchange Transactions", page 3.