Surplus for Swedish central government in January 2021

Surplus for Swedish central government in January 2021

Swedish central government payments resulted in a surplus of SEK 7.7 billion in January. The Debt Office's forecast was a deficit of SEK 10.6 billion.

The primary balance was SEK 15.8 billion higher than forecasted. Tax income were approximately SEK 9 billion higher than calculated. This is partly due to higher payments than expected from municipalities to the central government in the 2019 settlement of municipal tax payments. The settlement is made between municipalities and the central government in January each year and is a final calculation of municipal tax. In addition, payments from a number of agencies, for example the universities and the Swedish National Agency for Education, were lower than expected.

The Debt Office’s net lending to government agencies etc. were SEK 1.4 billion lower than forecasted.

Interest payments on central government debt were were SEK 1.1 billion lower than calculated.

For the twelve-month period up to the end of January 2021, central government payments resulted in a deficit of SEK 209.8 billion.

Central government debt amounted to SEK 1 270 billion at the end of January.

New forecasts for 2021 and 2022 will be published on 24 February at 9.30 a.m.

The outcome for February 2021 will be published on 5 March at 9.30 a.m.

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Budget balance and central government net borrowing requirement1 (SEK million)
	Outcome January	Forecast January	Deviation January	Acc. Dev2	Outcome 12-month
Budget balance	7 731	-10 593	18 324	53 863	-209 834
Net borrowing requirement1	-7 731	10 593	-18 324	-53 863	209 834
Primary balance3	-2 570	13 243	-15 813	-48 109	163 972
Net lending to agencies etc.4	-2 955	-1 508	-1 447	-3 427	27 511
Interest payments on central government debt	-2 207	-1 143	-1 064	-2 327	18 352
- Interest on loans in SEK	-2 048	-1 289	-759	-1 139	17 045
- Interest on loans in foreign currency	-45	-64	19	-133	-943
- Realised currency gains and losses	-114	210	-324	-1 055	2 250
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.

More data on the borrowing requirement and government debt: https://www.riksgalden.se/en/statistics/statistics-on-central-government-borrowing/

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

Attachment

• Report: Sweden's Central Government Debt January 2021