Deficit for Swedish central government in October 2020

Press release 6 November 2020

Swedish central government payments resulted in a deficit of SEK 36.0 billion in October. The Debt Office's forecast was a deficit of SEK 45.6 billion. The deviation is largely due to higher tax income than forecasted.

The primary balance was SEK 6.8 billion higher than forecasted. This is mainly due to tax revenues being approximately SEK 8 billion higher than calculated, which in turn is due to higher supplementary tax payments than expected.

The Debt Office’s net lending to government agencies etc. were SEK 2.9 billion lower than calculated. This was due to a lower lending to The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration and The Swedish Transport Administration.

Interest payments on central government debt were in line with the forecast.

For the twelve-month period up to the end of October 2020, central government payments resulted in a deficit of SEK 208.3 billion.

Central government debt amounted to SEK 1,238 billion at the end of October.

The outcome for November 2020 will be published on 7 December at 9.30 a.m.

Budget balance and central government net borrowing requirement¹(SEK million)
1 The net borrowing requirement corresponds to the budget balance with opposite sign.
2 Sum of monthly forecast deviations since last forecast (October 2020).
3 Net of the state's primary expenditure and income.
4 The net of government agencies etc. deposits and loans in the state’s internal bank. The net lending includes both current government operations and temporary occurrences which can be decided on short notice. The net lending affects the net borrowing requirement and central government debt, but are not covered by the Central government expenditure ceiling.
 Outcome   OctoberForecast OctoberDeviation OctoberAcc.    Dev2Outcome 12-month
Budget balance -35 973 -45 560 9 587 9 587 -208 266
Net borrowing requirement  35 973 45 560 -9 587 -9 587 208 266
Primary balance3 19 484 26 315 -6 831 -6 831 154 872
Net lending to agencies etc.4 17 786 20 647 -2 861 -2 861 41 933
Interest payments on central government debt -1 297 -1 402 105 105 11 461
  - Interest on loans in SEK -1 465 -1 862 397 397 8 584
  - Interest on loans in foreign currency -146 -47 -99 -99 -843
  - Realised currency gains and losses 314 507 -193 -193 3 721

Report: Sweden's central government debt October 2020

More data on the borrowing requirement and government debt

The monthly outcome of the central government net borrowing requirement is included in the official statistics of Sweden.

The Debt Office published their latest prognosis on the Swedish economy and central government borrowing on 21 October: Central Government borrowing 2020:3

Mats Lilja

Press inquiries

The Debt Office's operations shall be characterized by an openness to the public and the media. The right of access to official business is a cornerstone of Swedish democracy.

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Mats Lilja, press officer
Press phone: +46(0)8-613 47 01 (mainly office hours), mobile +46(0)721-561 527
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