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Excessive Deficit Procedure 2016:

General government finance surplus SEK 50 billion in 2016

Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2017-09-29 9.30

In 2016, general government net lending/net borrowing amounted to SEK 50 billion and the consolidated gross debt amounted to SEK 1 859 billion. This implies that Sweden has met the EU convergence requirements. Compared to 2015, general government finances strenghtened by almost SEK 44 billion.

The surplus of 1.1 percentage point in relation to GDP in 2016 is mainly due to a strong increase in income from taxes.

General government consolidated gross debt increased marginally, by SEK 3 billion in 2016, while GDP in current prices increased by SEK 205 billion. In relation to GDP, the debt decreased from 44.2 percent in 2015 to 42.2 percent in 2016.

According to the EU convergence requirements, the government deficit must not be lower than -3 percent and gross debt must not exceed 60 percent in relation to GDP, which implies that Sweden has met the requirements.

Central government debt decreased by SEK about 12 billion, which was mainly due to the large surplus in central government, resulting in a decreased borrowing in bills and short-term bonds. By the end of 2016, deposits in the Swedish tax account are estimated at SEK 45 billion, consolidated, increasing the Maastricht debt. Local government debt increased by SEK 26 billion.

Within the context of this publication, the time series 1996 and onwards, has been updated. Compared to previous notification, net lending/net borrowing is unchanged for 2013–2014 in relation to GDP and has been revised downwards by 0.1 percentage point 2015 and revised upwards by 0.3 percentage points 2016. General government consolidated gross debt has been revised upwards by between 0.2 and 0.6 percentage points of GDP 2013–2016. This is mainly due to a revised recording of the accrued pension contributions of the local government pension scheme during the transitional management phase. Earlier, the contributions were recorded as a local government pension liability towards households. As of now, these contributions are recognized as Maastricht debt towards the pension funds. The reviewed recording is a result of discussions with Eurostat. The households now have a pension claim towards the pension funds.

For the years 2015 and 2016, deposits in the Swedish tax account has been revised upwards by SEK 4 and SEK 15 billion respectively. A number of other areas have also been reviewed. More information regarding the time series revisions can be found in the memorandum Revideringar av offentliga finanser september 2017 (in Swedish).

Revideringar av offentliga finanser september 2017 (pdf)

The calculations for the Excessive Deficit Procedure are delivered by Statistics Sweden to Eurostat according to the EU Stability and Growth Pact in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 479/2009, as amended by 679/2010 and 220/2014. The figures reported will be audited by Eurostat and may be revised during this process. In that case, revised estimates will be published 23 October by both Statistics Sweden and Eurostat.

More information about the Excessive Deficit Procedure, as well as government finances in general, is available on Eurostat's website.

Comparison with ordinary financial accounts

Calculations of convergence requirements are somewhat different from the ordinary compilations in the financial accounts. For example, the gross debt is calculated at a nominal value because this is the value that has to be paid on maturity. In the financial accounts valuation, gross debt is calculated at the market value. The gross debt comprises only certain financial instruments, such as: currency, deposits, debt securities and loans. The financial accounts also comprises equity and investment fund shares or units, other accounts receivable/payable, financial derivatives and occupational pensions.

SEK billions2013201420152016
GDP 3 769.9 3 936.8 4 199.9 4 404.9
Net lending/borrowing ‑51.5 ‑61.4 6.6 50.5
Percentage of GDP (%) ‑1.4 ‑1.6 0.2 1.1
Gross debt 1 537.1 1 792.8 1 855.3 1 858.7
Percentage of GDP (%) 40.8 45.5 44.2 42.2

Next publishing will be

2018-03-28 at 09:30.

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