Debt Office leaves foreign currency exposure unchanged

News 3 December 2019

The Swedish National Debt Office, in accordance with the current guidelines for central government debt management, will stop buying foreign currency for the purposes of reducing the currency exposure of the debt.

In September, the Debt Office’s Board of Directors decided in its proposal to the Government to leave the foreign currency exposure of the central government debt unchanged pending the results of a new analysis. In accordance with the Debt Office’s proposal, the Government resolved on 14 November to adjust the steering of the foreign currency debt in the guidelines for central government debt management for 2020.

“On account of developments in financial markets in recent years, it is appropriate to analyse the strategic distribution of the central government debt with respect to foreign currency exposure,” the Government stated in a press release.

These new guidelines stipulate that the foreign currency exposure be left unchanged until the Debt Office has conducted an analysis of the debt’s strategic foreign currency exposure.

In light of this, the Debt Office has decided to cease foreign currency buying, which was previously done to reduce the currency exposure of the debt, as of 2 December 2019.