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Published: 15 March 2021

General government debt grew by EUR 5.1 billion in the last quarter of 2020

General government EDP debt, i.e. consolidated gross debt at nominal prices amounted to EUR 164.3 billion at the end of the last quarter of 2020 and grew by EUR 5.1 billion during the quarter. Relative to GDP, general government debt stood at 69.2 per cent. Correspondingly, general government debt has grown by EUR 21.4 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 last quarter, central government debt grew by EUR 4.7 billion and was EUR 135.9 billion at the end of the quarter. The number of short-term debt instruments with a maturity of under one year grew by EUR 3.2 billion and the stock of long-term bonds by EUR 1.6 billion. The stock of long-term loans went down by EUR 0.2 billion, but the stock of short-term loans remained almost unchanged.

The local government sector's debt remained on level with the previous quarter and stood at EUR 26.2 billion at the end of the last quarter of 2020. The loan stock grew by EUR 0.7 billion but the number of debt instruments fell by EUR 0.7 billion. Social security funds' debt grew by EUR 0.4 billion and totalled EUR 3.6 billion at the end of the quarter. Of them, employment pension schemes' debt grew by EUR 0.4 billion due to cash collateral received in connection with derivative contracts and securities lending. The debt of other social security funds remained unchanged.

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: Katri Kaaja

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Appendix tables

• Appendix table 1. General government debt by quarter, EUR billion (15.3.2021)
• Appendix table 2. Central government guarantees, EUR million (15.3.2021)

Revisions in these statistics

• Revisions in these statistics (15.3.2021)

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Updated 15.3.2021