Press release 8 June 2022
Swedish central government payments resulted in a surplus of SEK 69.2 billion in May. The Debt Office's forecast was a surplus of SEK 74.3 billion. The difference is due to lower tax income than estimated. At the same time, disbursements from government agencies and the Debt Office’s net lending were lower than expected.
The primary balance was SEK 6.6 billion lower than the forecast. This is mainly because tax income was SEK 9.4 billion lower than estimated. At the same time, payments from a number of government agencies, mainly the Legal, Financial and Administrative Services Agency, were lower than expected.
The Debt Office’s net lending to government agencies etc. was SEK 2.3 billion lower than forecast. This is due to increased deposits from Svenska Kraftnät, partially offset by lower deposits from the Swedish Pensions Agency.
Interest payments on the central government debt were SEK 0.8 billion higher than forecast.
For the twelve-month period up to the end of May 2022, central government payments resulted in a surplus of SEK 156.4 billion.
Central government debt amounted to SEK 1 034 billion at the end of May.
The outcome for June 2022 will be published on July 7 at 8.00 a.m.
The preliminary date for publishing new forecasts for 2022-2024 is October 27.
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. |
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 is not covered by the Central government expenditure ceiling. |
| Outcome | Forecast | Dev. | Acc. Dev.2 | Outcome 12-month |
Budget balance |
69 179 |
74 322 |
-5 143 |
-5 143 |
156 446 |
Net borrowing requirement1 |
-69 179 |
-74 322 |
5 143 |
5 143 |
-156 446 |
Primary balance3 |
-71 785 |
-78 369 |
6 585 |
6 585 |
-66 867 |
Net lending to agencies etc.4 |
-227 |
2 041 |
-2 268 |
-2 268 |
-97 757 |
Interest payments on central government debt |
2 833 |
2 006 |
826 |
826 |
8 178 |
- Interest on loans in SEK |
2 322 |
2 060 |
262 |
262 |
2 526 |
- Interest on loans in foreign currency |
-57 |
-56 |
-1 |
-1 |
-804 |
- Realised currency gains and losses |
568 |
2 |
566 |
566 |
6 457 |
Report: Sweden's Central Government Debt May 2022
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 forecast on the Swedish economy and central government borrowing on May 24 2022: Forecast and analysis 2022:2