Swedish central government payments resulted in a surplus of SEK 6.4 billion in March. The Debt Office's forecast was a surplus of SEK 1.9 billion. The difference is mainly due to lower net lending to government agencies.
The central government's primary balance was SEK 0.9 billion higher than forecast. This is mainly explained by somewhat lower disbursements for, among others; the Swedish National Agency for Education and the EU-contribution. The lower disbursements were partly offset by tax income being approximately SEK 2 billion lower than calculated.
The Debt Office's net lending to government agencies etc. was SEK 2.9 billion lower than expected. This was mainly due to higher deposits from the Swedish Pensions Agency and the Swedish Fortifications Agency.
Interest payments on central government debt were SEK 0.7 billion lower than calculated.
For the twelve-month period up to the end of March 2018, central government payments resulted in a surplus of SEK 75.6 billion.
Central government debt amounted to SEK 1,224 billion at the end of March.
The outcome for April will be published on 8 May at 9.30 a.m.
Contact
Håkan Carlsson, Analyst +46 (0)8 613 47 33
Robert Sennerdal, Press Secretary, +46 (0)8 613 46 94
| Central government net borrowing requirement1 (SEK million) | |||||
| Outcome Mar. | Forecast Mar. | Deviation Mar. | Acc. Dev2 | Outcome 12-month | |
| Net borrowing requirement | -6 356 | -1 911 | -4 445 | 554 | -75 559 |
| Primary balance3 | -2 940 | -2 076 | -865 | 2 458 | -86 886 |
| Net lending to agencies etc.4 | -6 786 | -3 890 | -2 896 | -1 748 | 3 315 |
| Interest payments on central government debt | 3 370 | 4 054 | -684 | -157 | 8 012 |
| - Interest on loans in SEK | 2 709 | 3 078 | -369 | -145 | 10 857 |
| - Interest on loans in foreign currency | -64 | -24 | -40 | -34 | -1 001 |
| - Realised currency gains and losses | 724 | 1 000 | -276 | 23 | -1 844 |
| 1 The net borrowing requirement corresponds to the budget balance with opposite sign. | |||||
| 2 Sum of monthly forecast deviations since last forecast (February 2018). | |||||
| 3 Net of the state's primary expenditure and income. | |||||
| 4 The net of government agencies etc. deposits and loans in the state's internal bank. The net lending includes | |||||
| both current government operations and temporary occurrences which can be decided on short notice. The net | |||||
| lending affects the net borrowing requirement and central government debt, but are not covered by the | |||||
| Central government expenditure ceiling. | |||||
More data on the borrowing requirement and government debt:
https://www.riksgalden.se/en/For-investors/Borrowing-and-the-government-debt/
The monthly outcome of the central government net borrowing requirement is included in the official statistics of Sweden.
