Swedish central government payments gave a surplus of SEK 18.6 billion in November. The Debt Office's forecast was SEK 8.7 billion. At the same time, we are revising our December forecast as we no longer expect any further income from sale of state assets before the end of the year.
The deviation in November is mainly explained by lower tax reimbursements, larger contributions from the EU, and the Debt Office's net lending to central government agencies being lower than expected.
Interest payments on central government debt were SEK 0.8 billion, which was SEK 0.3 billion higher than expected.
The surplus for the twelve-month period up to the end of November amounted to SEK 146 billion. A surplus in payments means that the Debt Office amortises on the central government debt.
The central government debt was SEK 1,107 billion at the end of November. This is SEK 134 billion lower than a year earlier. The change is smaller than the surplus because debt adjustments and short-term investments also affect the size of the debt.
Revised monthly forecast for December
Our original forecast for December contains income from sales of state assets to the amount of SEK 32 billion. Since there is only a short time left of the year, it is unlikely that this income will be realised. Even if an agreement of a sale is reached during December, it is not likely that any payment will be made before the year-end. Therefore we revise our forecast for December from a deficit of SEK 41.2 billion, to a deficit of SEK 73.2 billion. This means that the yearly forecast for 2007 is revised to a surplus of SEK 115 billion. The yearly forecast for 2008 is unchanged.
The outcome for December and the full year of 2007 will be published at 9.30 am on 9 January 2008.
Further information can be obtained from:
Håkan Carlsson, senior analyst, phone +46 8 613 47 33
Marja Lång, head of communication, phone +46 8 613 46 54
