Foreign currency exposure of the central government debt remains unchanged

News 14 November 2019

The Swedish Government issued a decision today on the guidelines for central government debt management. In accordance with the Swedish National Debt Office’s proposal, the foreign currency exposure of the debt is to be left unchanged and the term to maturity steered towards a combined target for the entire central government debt.

The Government’s assessment is that the foreign currency exposure of the debt shall remain unchanged pending the Debt Office’s analysis of the strategic foreign currency exposure. In a press release, the Government states that one reason for doing so is that this analysis may show that there is reason to review the previous focus on reducing this exposure at the previously stated rate.

A combined maturity target for the central government debt is introduced to clarify the overall level of risk, which is also in line with the Debt Office’s proposed guidelines. In regard to composition, the share of inflation-linked krona debt shall continue to be steered towards 20 per cent of the central government debt.

Guidelines for 2020 – summary

• Unchanged foreign currency exposure

• Inflation-linked krona debt: 20 per cent (long-term)

• Nominal krona debt is to comprise the remaining share

• Term to maturity of the central government debt is to be steered towards 3.5–6 years

The Government’s press release and guidelines

The Debt Office’s proposed guidelines