Riksgälden; Budget Surplus Of SEK 135 Billion In 2008

The Swedish central government budget showed a surplus of SEK 135 billion in 2008[1]. The large surplus is to a large extent explained by sales of government-owned enterprises. The sales of Vin & Sprit, Vasakronan and OMX totaled SEK 77 billion in 2008.

The Swedish National Debt Office's latest forecast was a surplus of SEK 148 billion. The difference is mainly explained by the support measures to the corporate sector that the Government carried out in December.

Interest payments on central government debt totaled SEK 33 billion. This is SEK 14 billion lower than in 2007. The difference is mainly due to exchange-rate gains and premiums on issued bonds.

Central government debt was SEK 1,119 billion at the end of 2008. This is a reduction of SEK 49 billion compared with 2007. The debt reduction was thus smaller than the budget surplus. This is due to the fact that the Debt Office's short-term investments increased by SEK 55 billion. Since assets and debts are recorded separately, the central government debt will temporarily be larger than it otherwise would be. At the same time, the depreciation of the krona caused the foreign currency debt to increase by SEK 36 billion.

Large deficit in December Central government payments showed a deficit of SEK 132.6 billion in December. The deficit was thus SEK 24.2 billion larger than the Debt Office's latest forecast. The difference is mainly explained by larger disbursements from the Government, larger tax reimbursements and larger net lending to government agencies.

In order to ease the effects of the financial crisis, the Government disbursed SEK 8 billion for support measures to the corporate sector. This concerned infusion of new capital to Almi Företagspartner and the Swedish Export Credit Corporation, and support to the car industry.

Reimbursements of excess tax and VAT were SEK 6 billion larger than forecast.

The Debt Office's net lending to central government agencies was SEK 5 billion larger than expected. This was mainly due to smaller amortizations from a number of agencies.

Interest payments on central government debt were SEK 15.2 billion, which is SEK 1 billion lower than calculated.

The outcome for January will be published at 9.30 am on 6 February 2009.

Further information can be obtained from: Tord Arvidsson, phone +46 8 613 47 53 [1] The outcome is preliminary and may be revised in connection with the Debt Office's annual accounts. Please refer to the Debt Office's annual report for 2008 for the definitive annual outcome.

This announcement was originally distributed by Hugin. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.



LINK: http://hugin.info/133745/R/1281330/286493.pdf

Riksgälden

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