Swedish central government payments resulted in a surplus of SEK 10.2 billion in May. The Debt Office's forecast was a deficit of SEK 17.4 billion. The deviation is mainly due to higher tax income than expected.
The primary balance was SEK 22.8 billion higher than forecasted. Tax income was approximately SEK 25 billion higher than forecasted. Tax income was higher and payments from the tax accounts were lower, to about the same degree. The Debt Office does not yet have enough data to analyse what the difference is due to. Although, the deviation is likely to be at least partially explained by an overestimation of tax deferrals.
The payments from the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth were SEK 3 billion higher than forecasted as a result of higher payments of short-time work supplement than anticipated. In addition, payments from the Legal, Financial and Administrative Services Agency and the EU fee were higher than forecasted.
The Debt Office’s net lending to government agencies etc. were SEK 3.9 billion lower than calculated. This was due to a lower lending to The Swedish Transport Administration and Svenska kraftnät and higher deposits of funds from the deposit guarantee scheme.
Interest payments on central government debt were SEK 0.9 billion lower than forecasted.
For the twelve-month period up to the end of May 2020, central government payments resulted in a deficit of SEK 26.4 billion.
Central government debt amounted to SEK 1,129 billion at the end of May.
The outcome for June 2020 will be published on 7 July at 9.30 a.m.
Contact
Press Secretary, +46 (0)8 613 47 01
| Budget balance and central government net borrowing requirement1 (SEK million) | |||||
| Outcome May | Forecast May | Deviation May | Acc. Dev2 | Outcome 12-month | |
| Budget balance | 10 220 | -17 400 | 27 620 | 27 620 | -26 350 |
| Net borrowing requirement1 | -10 220 | 17 400 | -27 620 | -27 620 | 26 350 |
| Primary balance3 | -10 801 | 12 029 | -22 830 | -22 830 | 38 742 |
| Net lending to agencies etc.4 | -358 | 3 523 | -3 881 | -3 881 | -31 560 |
| Interest payments on central government debt | 939 | 1 848 | -909 | -909 | 19 168 |
| - Interest on loans in SEK | 826 | 1 463 | -636 | -636 | 13 698 |
| - Interest on loans in foreign currency | -48 | -29 | -19 | -19 | -540 |
| - Realised currency gains and losses | 162 | 415 | -253 | -253 | 6 010 |
| 1 The net borrowing requirement corresponds to the budget balance with opposite sign. | |||||
| 2 Sum of monthly forecast deviations since last forecast (May 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 19 May: Central Government borrowing 2020:2.
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