General government debt statistics for March 2022

Published: 30/6/2022

According to the final data of government finance statistics for the first quarter of 2022, the total consolidated debt of all general government sub-sectors[1] reached HRK 342.5bn at the end of March 2022, down HRK 1.1bn (or 0.3%) from the end of December 2021 and up by HRK 1.6bn (or 0.5%) from the end of March 2021. The annual debt growth was due to an increase in the domestic debt of HRK 4.1bn (or 1.9%) and a decrease in the external debt of HRK 2.5bn (or 2.0%). Domestic debt fell by HRK 3.5bn (or 1.6%), and external debt rose by HRK 2.4bn (or 2.1%) compared to the end of the previous quarter.

Measured against the annual GDP[2], the total debt at the end of March 2022 amounted to 77.3% of GDP, a decrease of 12.8 percentage points on an annual basis from 90.1% of GDP at the end of March 2021 and a decrease of 2.5 percentage points from the end of the previous quarter, when this share stood at 79.8%.

The general government debt structure by main debt instruments and maturity is available only on an unconsolidated basis[3]. Long-term debt instruments dominate the maturity structure of unconsolidated debt: at the end of March 2022 most of this debt was made up of bonds (65.3%), the second by importance were long-term loans (28.7%), and last were short-term loans, securities and deposits (jointly 6.0%). The short-term debt components decreased by HRK 1.0bn (or 4.7%) on an annual basis from the end of March 2021 to the end of March 2022, while the long-term debt components increased by HRK 3.2bn (or 1.0%) during the same period.

 

Statistical time series: Table I3 General government debt (ESA 2010)

 


  1. This debt excludes the cross claims of institutions within the same sub-sector and between sectors, the so-called Maastricht debt.

  2. Calculated as the sum of the preceding four quarterly GDP figures.

  3. The unconsolidated debt represents the Maastricht debt increased by cross claims of different units within the general government sector.