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General government debt by quarter: documentation of statistics

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15.3.2024 valid documentation

Basic data of the statistics

Data description

Quarterly reporting of general government debt is part of the surveillance of budgetary stability under the EU’s Stability and Growth Pact. The EU regulation on quarterly debt reporting came into force in 2004. The statistics on general government debt by quarter is based on financial accounts, which are part of the system of national accounts.

The statistics on general government debt also include data on guarantees granted by central government. Central government guarantee data include such guarantees for which the State is liable or which are granted on behalf of the State. This differs from other statistics in that the data include only guarantees 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 these statistics.

Statistical population

The target population of general government debt consists of all resident statistical units (institutional units) belonging to general government.

Statistical unit

An institutional unit is an economic entity characterised by decision-making autonomy in the exercise of its principal function. A resident unit is regarded as constituting an institutional unit in the economic territory where it has its centre of predominant economic interest if it has decision-making autonomy and either keeps a complete set of accounts, or is able to compile a complete set of accounts.

General government debt describes the nominal debt of general government and its subsectors, i.e. central government, local government and social security funds, at the end of each quarter.

Unit of measure

The used unit of measure is EUR million.

Base period

The quarterly time series for general government debt are available on the statistics home page starting from Q1/2001. The quarterly time series for state guarantees are available starting from Q1/2005.

Reference period

Quarterly data of general government debt and state guarantees are published with a delay of around three months.

Reference area

The statistics on general government debt by quarter are based on financial accounts, which are part of the system of national accounts. The statistics are compiled in accordance with the general government deficit and debt reporting regulation and thus in an internationally comparable manner. The methodology for the compilation of the statistics on general government debt has been further specified in the Manual on Government Deficit and Debt published by Eurostat.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) requires quarterly reporting of guarantee data because Finland has committed to provide the IMF with data according to the SDDS standard, and because the guarantee liability of the Finnish central government is more than five per cent of the total debt of central government. The EU Commission also requires regular reporting of guarantee data to the Commission.

Sector coverage

General government debt describes the nominal debt of general government and its subsectors, i.e. central government, local government and social security funds, at the end of each quarter. The definition of general government debt differs from that used in financial accounts in that general government debt is consolidated, at nominal prices and comprises only cash and deposits, debt securities and loans.

Frequency of dissemination

Data on general government debt are published four times per year on Statistics Finland’s website. Quarterly data are typically released by quarter at the end of March, June, September and December. Practices of Statistics Finland when changes are made to statistical data are described at: http://tilastokeskus.fi/org/periaatteet/revisiokaytannot_en.html

Concepts

Central government guarantees

Central government guarantee data include such guarantees for which the state is liable.
Guarantees are arrangements whereby the guarantor undertakes to a lender that if a borrower defaults, the guarantor will make good the loss the lender would otherwise suffer. A fee is often collected for providing a guarantee.

Guarantees can also be provided for financial assets held by some unit. In this case, the commitment relates to cover losses related to a decrease in the value of assets or shortfalls in the recovery of the asset in full and in such cases there are various ways of activating the guarantor's obligations.

Central government guarantees also include guarantees administered by non-government units on behalf of general government or as part of the policy objectives of general government. An example of this is the export credit guarantees

Consolidated financial balance/flows

Financial assets and liabilities can be presented in consolidated form, i.e., after elimination of intra-sectorial transactions within sub-sectors (e.g. debts between municipalities) and between sub-sectors (including municipalities' debts to the state, employment pension corporations and other social security institutions within the general government sector). Consolidated data only show the relative positions of the sectors.

ESA 2010

ESA 2010 = European System of Accounts 2010, the EU's revised Regulation that steers the compilation of economic statistics.

Expired guarantees

A guarantee expires as the underlying credit is repaid. Repayment (in full or in part) is normally effected by the debtor. In some instances the guarantor of a loan is required to repay the loan in full or in part, based on a guarantee committed. This instalment also includes net changes in the stock of guarantees brought about by changes in the exchange rates, for example.

Financial assets category

The financial assets category includes all financial instruments that are described in the financial accounts.

The main classification criteria are the asset's liquidity and the laws that regulate its use. The asset must correspond to an unconditional liability; contingent assets are included only if they have a market value or can be offset against other liabilities.

Financial liabilities

Financial liabilities are economic liabilities that are categorised in the same manner as financial assets. Liabilities represent the counterpart of assets, i.e., an asset of one sector is always recorded as a liability of another sector.

General government debt

General government debt is general government sector consolidated gross debt valued at nominal value, and it is also known as EDP debt (= Excessive Deficit Proce-dure).

It comprises bonds, short-term securities, short-term and long-term loans and deposits received by general government from other sectors of the national economy or from the rest of the world. The EDP debt concept used in reporting according to the European Union's Growth and Stability Pact differs from that of ESA 2010 with regard to valuation and coverage. Finan-cial assets and liabilities are valued at market value in ESA 2010-compliant financial accounts, whereas general government EDP debt is valued at nominal value. Of the financial claims in ESA 2010, for example, deriva-tives, trade credits and advances are not included in the loan stock.

General government finances

The general government sector consists of state budget economy (on-budget activities) and extra-budgetary funds (off-budget activities).

Gross debt

Financial assets have no impact on total gross debt.

New guarantees granted

The total amount of outstanding guarantee commitments granted during the reference period.

Non-consolidated financial balance/flows

Financial assets and liabilities can be presented in non-consolidated form, i.e. all transactions are shown in full, including intra-sectorial and intra-sub-sectorial transactions. Intra-sectorial transactions in sectors consisting of a single institutional unit are nevertheless eliminated (e.g. borrowing within the central government sector). Intra-sectorial transactions do not have any impact on the sector's net worth or net lending.

Paid indemnities based on central government guarantees

Indemnities paid to lenders based on central government guarantee commitments during the reference period. Paid indemnities are given in gross.
The concept does not taken into consideration possible revenues from recovery claims (which are compiled in a separate item and are often directed to a different reference period than paid indemnities), and yields from possible insurance taken for guarantees. Paid indemnities include arrears and interests paid based on commitments.

Revenues from guarantee fees

Revenues accrued during the reference period from guarantee fees received as commission from guarantees for which the guarantor (state) is liable.

Revenues from recovery claims

Revenues accrued by the guarantor from recovery claims based on indemnities paid by to the guarantor (state) during the reference period.

Stock of guarantees

The total amount of central government outstanding guarantee commitments for which the guarantor (state) is liable in the reference period. The amounts do not include interest due.

Accuracy, reliability and timeliness

Overall accuracy

The statistics on general government debt are mainly derived from other statistics. Therefore, the quality of the source statistics is crucial for the reliability of the statistics. Because there are different types of source statistics, there are also various uncertainty factors

In the summary process, sector-specific data are adjusted into a balanced whole. The reliability of alternative data sources is evaluated in the process. This helps to manage uncertainty factors and reveal sources of error. The summary plays a key role in the reliability of the statistics.

One way to assess the accuracy of financial accounts is to examine financial accounts relative to entries of non-financial national accounts. Net lending is a balancing item of (non-financial) sector accounts, which must match the item net financial transactions included in financial accounts. A deviation is called statistical discrepancy that can be viewed by sector. In many other countries statistical discrepancy is not shown but accounts are forced into balance.

Timeliness

Quarterly data on general government debt are published at a lag of around three months. The StatFin database is always then updated.

Time series corrections caused by methodological changes are made even far back if necessary and because of them the figures may change significantly. The exact release dates of Statistics Finland’s next releases can be found on this site under ‘Future releases’

Punctuality

There are no delays between the release calendar and the actual release date.

Comparability

Comparability - geographical

The statistics are compiled in accordance with the general government deficit and debt reporting regulation and thus in an internationally comparable manner. The methodology for the compilation of the statistics on general government debt has been further specified in the Manual on Government Deficit and Debt published by Eurostat.

Coherence - cross domain

The time series data are mainly comparable from one year to the next. Changes in data sources affect the comparability of data.

Source data and data collections

Source data

The statistics on general government debt are mainly derived from other statistics. In addition to financial statistics, other statistics and data containing sector-specific or asset-specific balance sheet and flow data are used as sources in the compilation of the statistics. Most of the data sources are available quarterly but some sources can be used only on the annual level. The source data are adjusted into a balanced whole. The main data sources for financial accounts are listed below.

Data on monetary financial institutions:
Data on financial institutions’ balance sheets and flows are obtained quarterly from the Bank of Finland’s data on monetary financial institutions.

Data on investment funds:
The Bank of Finland’s data on mutual funds provide the structure of the portfolio of investment funds and private equity funds and the owner sector distribution of mutual fund shares at the end of the quarter. In addition, data are obtained on the flows related to the portfolio of investment funds during the quarter.

Balance of payments:
Statistics Finland compiles Finland’s balance of payments statistics, which are the main data source for the rest of the world sector in financial accounts. The balance of payments statistics describe the external balance of the national economy, i.e. economic relations between Finland and the rest of the world. The recordings of the balance of payments statistics are congruent with the principles of the national accounts.

Securities holding statistics:
The Bank of Finland’s securities holdings statistics are used in the calculation of debt securities and quoted shares. The statistics contain the securities held by each sector at the end of the quarter and financial transactions during the quarter. The classifications of the securities holdings statistics correspond with the classifications of financial accounts.

Solvency II:
The quarterly Solvency II data of the Financial Supervisory Authority and the Bank of Finland are an important data source for financial accounts in the compilation of statistics on insurance corporations.

Central government accounting data:
The central government accounting submitted monthly includes the accounting of central government agencies and funds.
Balance sheet accounts of accounting are used as the main data source in the compilation of central government’s financial accounts. The data are maintained by the State Treasury.

State Treasury’s debt reports:
The calculation of central government debt is largely based on the central government debt report published by the State Treasury. The quarterly report contains data on debt at nominal and market prices, transactions and accrued interest.

Quarterly data on local government finances:
Between 2016 and 2020, the main data source for local government was Statistics Finland’s quarterly data collection on the local government finances. These data described the development of the finances of municipalities and joint municipal authorities in Mainland Finland by quarter in accordance with the realisation of budgets. The statistics contained data on the debt of municipalities and joint municipal authorities and certain assets by type of claim. The statistics were based on a sample for the first to third quarters. The data for the fourth quarter covered all municipalities and joint municipal authorities.

Local government finances:
Another data source for local government was Statistics Finland's data collection on local government finances which contained annual data on the income and expenses, assets and debts, and activities of municipalities and joint municipal authorities. Balance sheet data and financial statement data of municipalities and joint municipal authorities and their enterprises were used in the compilation of financial accounts until data refering to the year 2020.

State Treasury's report on local government finances:
At the beginning of 2021, the collection of data on municipalities and joint municipal authorities as well as municipal and joint municipal authority enterprises was transferred from Statistics Finland to the State Treasury. The State Treasury collects corresponding data from the municipalities and joint municipal authorities that Statistics Finland previously collected on a quarterly and annual basis. Collected information include, among others, profit and loss accounts, balance sheets as well as cash flow statements.

Employment pension schemes’ data collection on assets:
The main data source for employment pension schemes is the joint data collection of Statistics Finland and the Finnish Pension Alliance TELA on the assets of employment pension schemes. The quarterly data collection was started with the data for the first quarter of 2016 and its respondents include pension companies, funds, foundations and special institutions providing statutory employment pension, and Keva, the State Pension Fund, the Church Pension Fund, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland and the Bank of Finland. The content inquired covers the units’ financial assets, other assets and some data on their liabilities. The data cover a breakdown into asset types and counterpart sectors and for foreign items a country division. In addition to balance sheets, flow data are also inquired.

Structural business statistics:
The main data source for the financial account of the non-financial corporations sector is the database of Statistics Finland’s structural business statistics, which contains financial statement data on enterprises. The balance sheet data of the structural business statistics provide the aggregates of financial assets and liabilities at book value determined for the whole sector, as well as some data by asset. The data of the structural business statistics are on the annual level. When calculating the latest quarters of financial accounts, annual level data are used as estimates and basic data for other calculation.

Data collection

The statistics on general government debt are mainly derived from other statistics. There are separate agreements on the delivery of data with the most important suppliers of source data, such as the Bank of Finland and the State Treasury.

Frequency of data collection

Depending on the source data, data are collected monthly, quarterly or annually. In general, the frequency of the data collection is quarterly.

Methods

Data compilation

Source data received from the Bank of Finland are processed in a uniform process with the balance of payments. All incoming data are processed and edited uniformly in the database architecture of the rest of the national accounts. At the compilation stage of financial accounts, sector data are no longer imputed, although imputed data may be included in different source data.

Data validation

The data are validated horizontally and vertically in connection with compiling and reporting. In addition, Eurostat and the ECB validate and check the data received quarterly in detail.

Principles and outlines

Contact organisation

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Contact organisation unit

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Legal acts and other agreements

The compilation of statistics is guided by the Statistics Act. The Statistics Act contains provisions on collection of data, processing of data and the obligation to provide data. Besides the Statistics Act, the Data Protection Act and the Act on the Openness of Government Activities are applied to processing of data when producing statistics.

Statistics Finland compiles statistics in line with the EU’s regulations applicable to statistics, which steer the statistical agencies of all EU Member States.

Further information: Statistical legislation

Confidentiality - policy

The data protection of data collected for statistical purposes is guaranteed in accordance with the requirements of the Statistics Act (280/2004), the Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999), the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and the Data Protection Act (1050/2018). The data materials are protected at all stages of processing with the necessary physical and technical solutions. Statistics Finland has compiled detailed directions and instructions for confidential processing of the data. Employees have access only to the data essential for their duties. The premises where unit-level data are processed are not accessible to outsiders. Members of the personnel have signed a pledge of secrecy upon entering the service. Violation of data protection is punishable.

Further information: Data protection | Statistics Finland (stat.fi)

Confidentiality - data treatment

The data materials are protected at all stages of processing with the necessary physical and technical solutions. Unit-specific data of the calculation data must be kept confidential.

Data are handled only by persons who need the data in their work. The use of data is restricted by usage rights. The statistics are formed by processing a large number of different statistics and other data sources. The aggregation of data in the process, the compilation time evaluation related to data quality, detailed prioritisation of sources and measures related to total level balancing produce an end result that does not enable identification of individual data producers.

All employees compiling financial accounts have signed a pledge of secrecy, where they have obliged to keep secret the data prescribed as confidential by virtue of the Statistics Act or the Act on the Openness of Government Activities.

Release policy

Statistics Finland publishes new statistical data at 8 am on weekdays in its web service. The release times of statistics are given in advance in the release calendar available in the web service. The data are public after they have been updated in the web service.

Further information: Publication principles for statistics at Statistics Finland

Data sharing

The European Central Bank quarterly releases the euro area financial accounts based on national financial accounts
and national financial accounts data on their web pages. In addition, the Bank of Finland can use data from general government financial statistics for other purposes than statistical purposes to the extent indicated in the ECB's guideline.

Closely associated with financial accounts, Statistics Finland is responsible for general government deficit and debt statistics and the Bank of Finland for the ECB’s government finance statistics.

The European Central Bank’s guideline on government finance statistics (recast) (ECB/2014/21) obliges the Bank of Finland to deliver fixed-format statistics on general government financial accounts to the ECB twice a year.
EDP deficit and debt reporting: Council Regulations (EC) No 479/2009 and (EU) No 679/2010 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 220/2014. The data concerning the previous year must be reported by 1 April and 1 October.
Quarterly EDP debt: ESA 2010 Regulation and transmission programme. The data must be submitted at a lag of 90 days.

Accessibility and clarity

Statistical data are published as database tables in the StatFin database. The database is the primary publishing site of data, and new data are updated first there. When releasing statistical data, existing database tables can be updated with new data or completely new database tables can be published.

In addition to statistical data published in the StatFin database, a release on the key data is usually published in the web service. If the release contains data concerning several reference periods (e.g. monthly and annual data), a review bringing together these data is published in the web service. Database tables updated at the time of publication are listed both in the release and in the review. In some cases, statistical data can also be published as mere database releases in the StatFin database. No release or review is published in connection with these database releases.

Releases and database tables are published in three languages, in Finnish, Swedish and English. The language versions of releases may have more limited content than in Finnish.

Information about changes in the publication schedules of releases and database tables and about corrections are given as change releases in the web service.

Data revision - policy

Revisions – i.e. improvements in the accuracy of statistical data already published – are a normal feature of statistical production and result in improved quality of statistics. The principle is that statistical data are based on the best available data and information concerning the statistical phenomenon. On the other hand, the revisions are communicated as transparently as possible in advance. Advance communication ensures that the users can prepare for the data revisions.

The reason why data in statistical releases become revised is often caused by the data becoming supplemented. Then the new, revised statistical figure is based on a wider information basis and describes the phenomenon more accurately than before.

Revisions of statistical data may also be caused by the calculation method used, such as annual benchmarking or updating of weight structures. Changes of base years and used classifications may also cause revisions to data.

Quality assessment

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF) are a comprehensive collection of statistics describing the development and state of society. They comprise nearly 300 sets of statistics on 26 different topics. The producers of Official Statistics of Finland have approved a common quality assurance in which they commit to common quality criteria and quality assurance measures. The quality criteria of Official Statistics of Finland are compatible with the European Statistics Code of Practice. The good practices followed in the statistics are presented in Statistics Finland’s Quality Guidelines for Official Statistics handbook.

Quality assurance

Quality management requires comprehensive guidance of activities. The quality management framework of the field of statistics is the European Statistics Code of Practice (CoP). The quality criteria of Official Statistics of Finland are compatible with the European Statistics Code of Practice.

Further information: Quality management | Statistics Finland (stat.fi)

User access

Data are released to all users at the same time. Statistical data may only be handled at Statistics Finland and information on them may be given before release only by persons involved in the production of the statistics concerned or who need the data of the statistics concerned in their own work before the data are published.

Further information: Publication principles for statistics

Unless otherwise separately stated in connection with the product, data or service concerned, Statistics Finland is the producer of the data and the owner of the copyright. The terms of use for statistical data.