Small deficit for Swedish central government in March 2024

Press release 8 huhtikuuta 2024

Swedish central government payments resulted in a deficit of SEK 0.3 billion in March. The Debt Office’s forecast was a deficit of SEK 11.1 billion. The difference is due to higher tax income and lower net lending than expected. That was partly offset by higher disbursements from government agencies.

The primary balance was SEK 1.9 billion higher than forecast. The difference is due to the fact that tax income was approximately SEK 9 billion higher than estimated. This was offset by higher than forecasted disbursements from a number of agencies.

The Debt Office’s net lending to government agencies etc. was SEK 8.8 billion lower than forecast. This was due to higher deposits from, among others, the EU and Svenska kraftnät.

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

For the twelve-month period up to the end of March 2024, central government payments resulted in a surplus of SEK 18 billion.

Central government debt amounted to SEK 1.018 billion at the end of March.

The outcome for April 2024 will be published on May 8, 2024 at 8.00 a.m.

Budget balance and central government net borrowing requirement [1] (SEK million)
 OutcomeForecastDeviationAcc.    Dev. [2]Outcome 12-month
Budget balance [5] -341 -11 120 10 779 32 838 18 384
Net borrowing requirement [1][5] 341 11 120 -10 779 -32 838 -18 384
Primary balance [3] 9 176 11 034 -1 858 -25 187 -24 792
Net lending to agencies etc. [4][5] -11 436 -2 594 -8 842 -7 566 -21 531
Interest payments on central government debt 2 602 2 681 -80 -85 27 939
  - Interest on loans in SEK 2 300 2 807 -507 -389 20 408
  - Interest on loans in foreign currency 722 115 607 540 3 243
  - Realised currency gains and losses -421 -242 -179 -237 4 288
[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.
[5] The outcome for the net lending to agencies, and therefore also the budget balance and the net borrowing requirement, is not completely correct as a result of an incorrect reading of one transaction. The value of the transaction is approximately SEK 1 million. The outcome will be corrected during the year.

Report: Sweden´s Central Goverment Debt March 2024

More data on the central government net borrowing requirement and government debt

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

The National Debt Office published its latest forecast on the Swedish economy and central government borrowing on February 22, 2024: Forecast and analysis 2024:1

Press inquiries

Mats Lilja, press officer

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