Published: 18 December 2020
General government debt decreased by EUR 4.7 billion in the third quarter of 2020
General government EDP debt, or consolidated gross debt at nominal prices amounted to EUR 159.2 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2020 and decreased by EUR 4.7 billion during the quarter. Relative to GDP, general government debt was 67.1 per cent. Correspondingly, general government debt has grown by EUR 15.6 billion compared with the respective period of the year before. These data derive from Statistics Finland's statistics on general government debt by quarter.
General government debt by quarter
During the third quarter, central government debt decreased by EUR 3.9 billion and was EUR 131.6 billion at the end of the quarter. The number of short-term debt instruments with a maturity of under one year grew by EUR 0.1 billion and the stock of long-term bonds decreased by EUR 3.8 billion. The stock of short-term loans decreased by EUR 0.2 billion but the stock of long-term loans remained almost unchanged.
The local government sector's debt decreased by EUR 0.2 billion and totalled EUR 25.9 billion at the end of the quarter. The number of debt instruments decreased by EUR 0.2 billion and the loan stock remained almost on level with the previous quarter. Social security funds' debt fell by EUR 0.4 billion and totalled EUR 3.2 billion at the end of the quarter. Of them, employment pension schemes' debt decreased by EUR 0.3 billion due to cash collateral received in connection with derivative contracts and securities lending. The debt of other social security funds decreased by EUR 0.1 billion due to the fall in the stock of debt securities.
General government EDP debt describes general government’s debt to other sectors of the national economy and to the rest of the world, and its development is influenced by changes in unconsolidated debt and internal general government debts. Consolidated general government gross debt is derived by deducting debts between units recorded under general government from unconsolidated gross debt. For this reason, general government debt is smaller than the combined debts of its sub-sectors. The debt-to-GDP ratio has been calculated using a seasonally and working day adjusted GDP series at market prices.
The EDP debt of general government differs conceptionally to some extent in the case of central government from the central government debt published by the State Treasury. Central government's EDP debt also includes loans granted to beneficiary counties by the European Financial Stability Facility EFSF, received cash collaterals related to derivative contracts, the capital of the Nuclear Waste Management Fund, debts generated from investments in central government's PPP (public-private partnership) projects, coins that are in circulation, and the deposits of the European Commission. In National Accounts, central government is also a broader concept than the budget and financial economy (http://www.stat.fi/meta/luokitukset/_linkki/julkisyhteisot.html). However, the State Pension Fund is included in social security funds. The valuation principle for both debt concepts is the nominal value, where the effect of currency swaps is taken into account.
Source: General government debt by quarter, Statistics Finland
Inquiries: Aaro Hottinen 029 551 3231, Jose Lahtinen 029 551 3776, financial.accounts@stat.fi
Head of Department in charge: Mari Ylä-Jarkko
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- Revisions in these statistics (18.12.2020)
Updated 18.12.2020
Official Statistics of Finland (OSF):
General government debt by quarter [e-publication].
ISSN=1799-8034. 3rd quarter 2020. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 28.12.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/jyev/2020/03/jyev_2020_03_2020-12-18_tie_001_en.html