Deficit for Swedish central government in December

Press release 10 January 2014

Swedish central government payments resulted in a deficit of SEK 96.6 billion in December. The Debt Office’s forecast was a deficit of SEK 82.8 billion. The difference of SEK 13.8 billion is largely due to lower tax income, higher net lending to agencies and higher interest payments on central government debt.

Tax income was SEK 7.7 billion lower than forecast in December. It is mainly due to higher tax reimbursements and lower preliminary corporate tax payments.

The Debt Office's net lending to government agencies was SEK 3.8 billion higher than forecast. It is mainly explained by lower deposits from the Nuclear Waste Fund.

Interest payments on central government amounted to SEK 9.6 billion, which was nearly SEK 1 billion higher than estimated.

Budget deficit for the full year 2013

For the full year 2013 the deficit was SEK 131.5 billion[1], which can be compared with the Debt Office's forecast of SEK 126.3 billion.

The outcome for 2013 was therefore essentially in line with our forecast from October. The somewhat higher figure was mainly due to lower tax income. The outcome was also broadly in line with the latest forecasts from NIER, ESV and the government

The deficit for the full year is mainly due to on-lending to the Riksbank amounting to SEK 103.6 billion.

Central government debt amounted to SEK 1,277 billion at the end of 2013. This can be compared to SEK 1,146 billion one year earlier.

The outcome for January will be published on 7 February 2014, at 9:30 am.

Further information can be obtained from:
Håkan Carlsson, +46 8 613 47 33

Sweden's Central Government Debt December 2013

[1] The outcome is preliminary and may be revised in connection with the Debt Office's annual accounts. Please refer to the Debt Office's annual report 2013 for the final annual outcome.