Deficit for Swedish central government in April 2024

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Press release 8 May 2024

Swedish central government payments resulted in a deficit of SEK 30.6 billion in January. This was lower than the National Debt Office’s forecast of SEK 26.4 billion.

The figures in the table below were corrected on 6 September 2024.

The primary balance was SEK 7.4 billion lower than forecast. The difference can be attributed to lower tax revenue of SEK 4.6 billion. Payments by government agencies were also higher than forecast.

The National Debt Office’s net lending to government agencies etc. was SEK 2.5 billion lower than forecast. This was mainly due to lower than expected lending to The Swedish Defense Materiel Administration.

Interest payments on central government debt were 0.7 billion lower than forecast.

For the twelve-month period up to the end of April 2024, central government payments resulted in a deficit of SEK 25 billion.

Central government debt amounted to SEK 1,042 billion at the end of April.

The outcome for May 2024 will be published on June 10, 2024 at 8.00 a.m. The date for publishing a new forecast on the Swedish economy and central government borrowing is 30 May 2024.

Budget balance and central government net borrowing requirement [1] (SEK million)
 OutcomeForecastDev.Acc. Dev. [2]
Outcome 12-month

Budget balance [5]

-30 592

-26 430

-4 163

28 675

-24 904

Net borrowing requirement [1] [5]

30 592

26 430

4 163

-28 675

24 904

Primary balance [3] [5]

34 576

27 181

7 396

-17 790

-19 682

Net lending to agencies etc. [4] [5]

-4 899

-2 404

-2 495

-10 061

17 011

Interest payments on central government debt

914

1 653

-738

-823

27 575

  - Interest on loans in SEK

1 583

1 542

41

-347

21 967

  - Interest on loans in foreign currency

-6

250

-255

285

3 091

  - Realised currency gains and losses

-663

-139

-524

-761

2 517

[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] 2024-09-06: The outcome was corrected. 2024-05-08: 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. However, the values in the columns Accumulated difference and 12-month outcome are correct because the incorrect reading also affected the outcome in March.

Report Sweden’s Central Government Debt April 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

The Debt Office's operations shall be characterized by an openness to the public and the media. The right of access to official business is a cornerstone of Swedish democracy.

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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