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Published: 15 March 2022

General government debt decreased by EUR 1.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021

General government EDP debt, or consolidated gross debt at nominal prices amounted to EUR 166.4 billion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021 and decreased by EUR 1.8 billion during the quarter. Relative to GDP, general government debt stood at 65.8 per cent. Correspondingly, general government debt has grown by EUR 2.2 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 fourth quarter, central government debt decreased by EUR 1.7 billion and was EUR 139.1 billion at the end of the quarter. The stock of long-term bonds grew by EUR 1.7 billion and the stock of short-term debt instruments with a maturity of under one year decreased by EUR 3.4 billion. The stocks of long-term and short-term loans remained nearly on level with the previous quarter.

The local government sector's debt decreased by EUR 0.2 billion and stood at EUR 26.4 billion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021. The loan stock grew by EUR 0.2 billion and the amount of debt instruments diminished by EUR 0.4 billion from the previous quarter. Social security funds’ debt remained almost on level with the previous quarter, standing at EUR 2.7 billion at the end of the quarter. Of these, the debt stock of employment pension schemes was EUR 1.4 billion and that of other social security funds EUR 1.3 billion.

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: Johannes Nykänen 029 551 3641, Päivi Kankaanranta 029 551 3417, 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 (15.3.2022)
• Appendix table 2. Central government guarantees, EUR million (15.3.2022)

Revisions in these statistics

• Revisions in these statistics (15.3.2022)

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Updated 15.3.2022