The Swedish central government budget in June gave a surplus (corresponding to a negative borrowing requirement) of SEK 21.1 billion. This is to be compared to a projected surplus of SEK 20.7 billion in the Debt Office's latest published forecast.
The June primary surplus was about SEK 4 billion higher than predicted. The main reason was less than expected disbursements by a number of state agencies. Also, a somewhat smaller net lending than expected contributed to the bigger surplus.
Interest payments on the central government debt in June were almost SEK 4 billion larger than projected. About 2.5 billion of the forecast error can be assigned interest payments on loans in foreign currency. These are always hard to forecast in periods with substantial changes in interest rates and exchange rates. The remaining 1.5 billion are related to interest payments on loans in kronor. The main reasons were higher than expected interest payments in connection with buy-backs and exchanges of inflation-linked bonds and that interest payments received from swap arrangements were considerably smaller than projected.
For the twelve-month period ending June 30, the budget surplus amounted to SEK 56 billion. The central government debt amounted to SEK 1,094 billion at the end of June 2002.
The outcome of central government borrowing requirement for July will be published on August 6, 2002, at 9.30 a.m.[1] A revised forecast for 2002 and 2003 will be published on October 30, 2002, at 9.30 a.m.[1] The publication schedule for 2002 can be found on the Debt Office's web site (www.rgk.se). It can also be obtained by calling +46-8-613 47 40. Release dates for the outcome of the central government borrowing requirement are published quarter-ahead on the Advance release calendar on the International Monetary Fund's web site (http://dsbb.imf.org) in accordance with the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS).
The full Press Release is available to download from the enclosed link.
