General government gross debt (the level of government borrowing) fell by over €4 billion to €220.7 billion (Table 3.1). However, due to revisions to GDP, the debt ratio increased slightly from 43.1% at the end of 2022 to 43.3% at the end of last year. Given the significant borrowing required during the pandemic years, the level of debt remains over €17 billion higher than at the end of 2019. General government net debt fell by €7.2 billion to €179.2 billion (35.1% of GDP) at the end of 2023. Net debt takes account of the assets corresponding to Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP) debt instruments, i.e. currency and deposits, securities other than shares, and loans (Tables 3.1 and 3.4).
At the end of 2023, the value of the State's assets in Equity and Investment Fund Shares (AF.5, Table 3.3) stood at €33.8 billion, representing a year-on-year fall in value of €1.9 billion since Q4 2022. This drop in value was driven by the combination of a reduction in holdings of €2.5 billion (Table 3.2) and an increase in the market value of these holdings of €0.6 billion.
The reduction in holdings of AF.5 assets was in part explained by a net sell-off by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund of shares held by the State in AIB. The residual transaction involved a withdrawal of equity held by the State in Central Bank reserves of €0.5 billion.
Investment in short-term debt securities (AF.31, Table 3.3) continued to rise with holdings standing at €5.0 billion at the end of the year. The majority of these assets are held by the National Treasury Management Agency, which has invested significantly in foreign treasury bills during 2023, for the purpose of attracting a more favourable rate of interest on cash reserves. The market value of total liabilities increased by €0.3 billion during 2023 compared with its end 2022 value of €236.3 billion. This movement in value was composed of a net redemption/repayment of liabilities corresponding to an annual transaction of -€6.9 billion (Table 3.2) together with a combination of downward market price changes and currency effects totalling €7.2 billion.
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