Debt Office proposes unchanged guidelines for central government debt management

Press release 30 September 2020

The Swedish National Debt Office proposes no significant revisions to the guidelines for managing the central government debt ahead of 2021. The changes made in recent years have led to a more comprehensive approach to guiding the debt management, which provides flexibility for meeting both a growing debt and increased uncertainty.

The Debt Office is submitting its proposed guidelines for debt management in 2021–2024 to the Ministry of Finance today. The guidelines, on which the Government decides, set out among other things the composition and term to maturity of the debt. The objective of managing the debt is to minimise the cost over the long term while taking account of the risk.

The Debt Office’s proposal retains the existing guidelines for the composition and maturity:

Composition

• The share of the inflation-linked krona debt is to be 20 per cent of the central government debt over the long term.
• The foreign currency exposure of the central government debt is to remain unchanged.
• In addition to the inflation-linked krona debt and foreign currency debt, the central government debt is to consist of nominal krona debt.

Maturity

The term to maturity of the central government debt is to be between 3.5 and 6 years (measured as duration).

Continued review of the foreign currency exposure

Last year, the Government adopted the Debt Office’s proposal to keep the foreign currency exposure of the debt unchanged pending a review. The Debt Office now proposes that the foreign currency exposure remain unchanged until the review is completed. However, a proposed addition to the wording is made to clarify that the exposure may vary temporarily as a result of the Debt Office’s currency exchange transactions.

What guides central government debt management

At the general level, the debt management is governed by the Swedish Budget Act and the Ordinance Containing Instructions for the Swedish National Debt Office. These statutes establish, for example, the permitted purposes of central government borrowing and the debt management objective of minimising the cost over the long term while taking account of the risk. The overall trade-off between cost and risk is contained in the guidelines as adopted by the Government.

The Government decides on the guidelines every year by 15 November. The decision is taken after the Debt Office submits proposed guidelines, on which the Riksbank is given the opportunity to deliver an opinion.

Read the full report: Central Government Debt Management – Proposed Guidelines 2021–2024