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Description

The purpose of quarterly reporting on general government debt is to follow the indebtedness of public economies in EU Member States in accordance with the Stability and Growth Pact of the EU. The EU Regulation concerning quarterly reporting came into force in 2004. The statistics contain general government debt at the end of each quarter, divided by sub-sector into the debt balances of central government, local government and social security funds. General government debt by quarter differs by definition from the general government debt according to financial accounts in that general government debt is at nominal prices and comprises only currency and transferable deposits, securities and loans. In addition, general government debt is consolidated debt, which means that it excludes debt items between sub-sectors. For this reason general government debt (S13) is smaller than the combined debts of its sub-sectors. The data reported by the different Member States are comparable with each other. The statistics also publish data on guarantees granted by central government. Central government guarantee data include such guarantees for which central government is liable or which are granted on its behalf. This differs from other statistics in that the data include only guarantees granted for which central government is liable. Of other general government subsectors, the local government sector also grants guarantees in Finland, but they are not included in this statistics. The table on central government guarantees includes sector-specific data on new central government guarantees, expired guarantees, stock of guarantees, paid indemnities, revenue from recovery claims and revenue from repayments received granted by central government, government-owned enterprises and special credit institutions.

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