Financing the deficit - general government debt at €236.3 billion at end of Q3 2021
Gross general government debt increased by €1.8bn in the quarter to €236.3 billion. The increase was due almost entirely to movement in the level of debt securities (€1.8 billion): the issuance of €2.4 billion of long term debt securities offset by a decrease of €0.6 billion in short term debt securities. There were very minor movements in the other debt instrument liabilities, with currency and deposits rising by €0.2 billion and loan liabilities falling by €0.3 billion. The debt to GDP ratio stood at 57.6% at the end of the third quarter.
While EDP debt instrument assets increased by €1.3 billion in the quarter, this was offset by the rise of €1.8 billion in liabilities resulting in net general government debt increasing by €0.5 billion. The increase in assets is due entirely to a rise in currency and deposits - the proceeds of the issuance of debt securities.
| Currency & Deposits | Long term loans | Short term loans | Long term debt securities | Short term debt securities | |
| 2020 Q1 | 22.5 | 47.4 | 0.6 | 134.6 | 8.6 |
| 2020 Q2 | 22.9 | 47.4 | 0.5 | 137.7 | 17.4 |
| 2020 Q3 | 23.3 | 46.8 | 0.4 | 141.1 | 15.7 |
| 2020 Q4 | 23.7 | 46.2 | 0.5 | 138.1 | 9.3 |
| 2021 Q1 | 24.3 | 48.3 | 0.8 | 144.9 | 12.1 |
| 2021 Q2 | 24.7 | 48.2 | 0.7 | 151.2 | 9.7 |
| 2021 Q3 | 24.9 | 48.2 | 0.5 | 153.6 | 9.1 |
Figure 3.1 above shows that the composition of general government debt has remained relatively stable over time, with long term debt securities consistently accounting for over 60% of the total. In recent times, the proportion accounted for by short term debt securities has been the most volatile rising to 7.7% in Q2 2020. This reflects the immediate requirement for funding in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. In recent quarters it has fallen back to its pre pandemic level of approximately 4%.
Movements of note in the balance sheet, Q3 2021
The market value of the State's assets in Equity and Investment Fund Shares (Table 3.3) remained largely unchanged in the quarter and stood at €35.0 billion at the end of Q3 2021. Over this period the net neutral movement was composed of a reduction in holdings of these assets of €0.4 billion (Table 3.2), offset by holding gains of €0.4 billion (derived from tables 3.2 and 3.3). These gains in the value of its portfolio were largely due to market movements in the value of the State’s investments in Irish banks. The State’s cash holdings rose by €1.4 billion this quarter, effectively explained as the proceeds from further borrowing through the issuance of Government bonds (Table 3.2).
Go to next chapter Background Notes
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.