Background Notes

Introduction

This release comprises the latest official publication by CSO of quarterly Government Finance Statistics (GFS) for the period Q1 2016 to Q4 2019.

These quarterly GFS are aligned with the April 2020 GFS annual release published on 15 April 2020. Revisions to previously published quarters reflect updated data sources or changes in methodology.

The data published are consistent with the General Government Deficit and Debt levels reported at end-March 2020 under the EU regulation governing the Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP). Consequently they may not always be fully aligned with the National Income and Expenditure and related publications such as the Institutional Sector Accounts.

The official publication by Eurostat of deficit and debt levels for all EU member states is 22 April 2020.

The tables provide detailed revenue, expenditure and balance sheet data for general government. These data are also available on CSO Statbank here .

The full suite of GFS tables are also available on the CSO website here. 

Data for all EU Member States are available on Eurostat’s database here.

Revisions to data

Revisions to General Government Deficit/Surplus (GG Deficit/Surplus)

Approved Housing Bodies: Data for three Approved Housing Bodies newly classified into the local government sector has been incorporated into the data for 2016-2019.

Local Government Entities: New data on local government entities which were previously not captured is now included for 2016 and 2017.

Carbon Credits: The methodology for the calculation of carbon credits has been updated from 2013, which has increased Other taxes on production (D.29) and decreased Other accounts receivable/payable (AF.89).

VAT MOSS (VAT Mini One Stop Shop): VAT MOSS is a way of paying VAT on supplies of certain digital services. The VAT MOSS retention fee payable to other countries is now included as a D.74 payable from 2016. 

General Government Net Worth: These revisions are due to increased availability of data (Tables 2 and 6).

Revisions to General Government Debt (GG Debt)

Estimates of the general government debt have been revised since October 2019.  Revisions are due to improved compilation processes and, for recent years, also reflect the availability of more up-to-date and detailed data sources.

Transactions of note during 2019

Super dividend: In 2019 Q2 the exchequer received a super dividend of €1,653 million from the Central Bank of Ireland.

IBRC payment to Exchequer: In 2013 the payment by the Exchequer of €1.1 billion to meet obligations to IBRC deposit holders under the guarantee schemes in operation was treated as the granting of a loan from the Exchequer to IBRC, on the understanding that the Exchequer would be treated as a creditor of IBRC in the liquidation process and that there was a reasonable expectation of repayment.  The 2019 repayment of €681.7 million was made in 2019 Q4.

Consultants pay settlement: In June 2018 there was a settlement made following a court process with medical consultants in relation to pay arrears.  The backdated payments of €104 million were recorded as D.99 expenditure of central government in Q3 and Q4 2019.

Net acquisition of unproduced assets (NP): The sale of the former DIT Kevin Street Campus for €140 million in Q3 2019 is included under the NP figure.

Movements of note in the balance sheet

The value of the State's assets in Equity and Investment Fund Shares (AF.5, Table 6) stood at €33.9 billion, representing a year-on-year fall of €3.2 billion since Q4 2018. This drop in value was composed of a reduction in holdings of this asset class of €2.4 billion (Table 5) and a loss in value due to market fluctuations over the year of €0.8 billion (Tables 5 and 6). These market losses related mostly to movements in the value of shares held in Irish Banks.

On the other side of the balance sheet the State's liabilities dropped by €2.9 billion during 2019. This was mainly composed of the repayment of loans (AF.4, Tables 5 and 6) amounting to €1.5 billion, largely driven by repayments of the UK bilateral loan in this period.

GDP figures used in publication

The GDP figures used in this publication are consistent with those published in the National Income and Expenditure accounts published on 11 July 2019. 2019 GDP is based on the Quarterly National Accounts released on 6 March 2020.

Population estimates used in publication

The population estimates used in calculating the debt per capita data in Figure 3 are the previous years' mid-April estimates of population except for the year 2017 where the 2016 census of population figure is used (see Statbank table PEA15: Annual Population Change by Component and Year).

Government Finance Statistics – concepts and definitions

GFS form the basis for fiscal monitoring in Europe, in particular in relation to the Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP).

European GFS, including EDP statistics, are produced according to the legally binding accounting rules of the European System of Accounts (ESA2010). The Manual on Government Debt and Deficit (MGDD) provides further guidance on the implementation of ESA 2010 in the context of GFS.

EU Member States are required to report government deficit/surplus and debt data biannually under the EDP - before 1 April and 1 October in year N, for years N-4 to N-1 calendar years, as well as a forecast for the current year. The data are reported in harmonised tables, which provide a consistent framework for the presentation of this data by Member States. The tables provide a structure for linking national budgetary aggregates with government deficit and debt.

In addition to the EDP transmission programme, detailed statistics on government revenue and expenditure are also provided to Eurostat under the ESA transmission programme. For quarterly data the main tables reported are:

Table 0801 Quarterly non-financial accounts by sector

Table 2500 Quarterly short term statistics (revenue and expenditure) for general government

Table 2700 Quarterly financial accounts for general government

Table 2800 Quarterly government debt

These data are available on the Eurostat website here.

Definition of General Government and its subsectors

The general government sector of the economy, is defined in ESA2010 paragraph 2.111: as “institutional units which are non-market producers whose output is intended for individual and collective consumption, and are financed by compulsory payments made by units belonging to other sectors, and institutional units principally engaged in the redistribution of national income and wealth.” General government comprises the sub-sectors central government (S.1311), state government (S.1312 – which does not apply in Ireland), local government (S.1313), and social security funds (S.1314 – which does not apply in Ireland),

General Government Deficit/Surplus (GG Deficit/Surplus) is the standard European measure of the fiscal balance, which is used to monitor compliance with the Stability and Growth Pact.

This measure is by definition equal to both Total Revenue (TR) less Total Expenditure (TE), and Net Acquisition of Financial Assets less Net Incurrence of Liabilities as shown in the GFS release.

A listing of some of the main items included in this release is shown below.

General Government Gross Debt (GG Debt) is defined in the EU regulations implementing the Maastricht Treaty as the gross debt liabilities of the consolidated general government sector, at nominal value.

‘Gross’ means that the value of any financial assets held by general government cannot be deducted from the GG debt. In Ireland’s case, this means that the liquid assets which are deducted from the ‘Gross’ national debt in arriving at the audited national debt cannot be deducted from the GG debt.

‘Debt liabilities’ are defined as the ESA 2010 categories AF.2 (Currency and deposits), AF.3 (Debt securities), and AF.4 (Loans).

This definition excludes liabilities in derivatives, equity liabilities, pension and insurance liabilities and accounts payable.

‘Consolidated’ means that any money owed by one entity within general government to another is excluded from the total GG Debt.

‘Nominal value’ is defined in the governing regulation as face value. If debt is sold at a discount, it is the undiscounted value of the instrument, rather than the amount actually received, that is shown in the GG debt. In other statistical contexts, ‘nominal value’ means face value plus any interest accrued but not paid; however, such interest is excluded from GG Debt by definition.

General government net debt is a measure produced in accordance with the methodology of the IMF/World Bank Public Sector Debt Statistics Guide, by subtracting from the GG gross debt figure the value of the financial assets corresponding to the categories of financial liabilities which comprise GG gross debt.

General government net worth is calculated as the sum of financial and non-financial assets of general government less financial liabilities.

Detailed codes and technical definitions can be seen in the ESA 2010 manual here.

A listing of some of the main items included in this release is shown below.

Main Components of General Government Expenditure and Revenue

P.2       Intermediate consumption – value of goods and services used in the process of production, excluding fixed assets

P.5       Gross capital formation

            P.51g   Gross fixed capital formation - acquisitions, less disposals, of fixed assets during a given period plus certain additions to the value of non-produced assets realised by productive activity. Fixed assets are tangible or intangible assets produced as outputs from processes of production that are themselves used repeatedly, or continuously, in processes of production for more than one year

            P.51c   Consumption of fixed capital - the amount of fixed assets used up, during the period under consideration, as a result of normal wear and tear and foreseeable obsolescence, including a provision for losses of fixed assets as a result of accidental damage which can be insured against.

P.52     Changes in inventories

P.53     Acquisitions less disposals of valuables

D.1      Compensation of employees – the total remuneration of government employees

D.29    Other taxes on production (payable) all taxes that enterprises incur as a result of engaging in production, independently of the quantity or value of the goods and services produced or sold. These include taxes on use or ownership of land or buildings, taxes on use of fixed assets, taxes on total wage bill and payroll, taxes on international transactions related to production.

D.3      Subsidies (payable) - current unrequited payments which general government or the institutions of the European Union make to resident producers, with the objective of influencing their levels of production, their prices or the remuneration of the factors of production

D.4      Property income accrues when the owners of financial assets and natural resources put them at the disposal of other units of the economy. The income payable for the use of financial assets is called investment income, while that payable for the use of a natural resource is called rent. Property income is the sum of investment income and rent.

           D.41    Interest receivable by the owners of a financial asset for putting it at the disposal of another institutional unit - applies to deposits (AF.2), debt securities (AF.3), loans (AF.4) and other accounts payable (AF.8)

           D.42    Dividends receivable by the owners of share equities. Dividends exclude "super dividends" which arise where the dividend paid is large relative to the recent level of dividends and earnings. Super dividends are recorded as withdrawal of equity (F.5). This arises, for example, in the case of dividends paid by the Central Bank in 2015.

           D.45    Rent of a natural resource – income receivable by the owner of a natural resource for putting the resource at the disposal of another party.

D.5      Current taxes on income, wealth, etc., (payable) - all compulsory, unrequited payments, in cash or in kind, levied periodically by general government and by the rest of the world on the income and wealth of units in the economy, and some periodic taxes which are assessed neither on income nor wealth

D.6      Social contributions - transfers to households, in cash or in kind, intended to relieve them from the financial burden of a number of risks or needs.

D.7      Other current transfers – includes VAT and GNI based EU budget contributions, current transfers between subsectors of government, current international co-operation and current transfers to households and non-profit institutions.

D.9      Capital transfers - involve the acquisition or disposal of an asset, or assets, by at least one of the parties to the transaction.  Includes capital taxes and investment grants.

 P.1       Total output of Government is equal to market output, own account capital formation, and non-market output (i.e. the sum of D.1+P.2+P51c). The market output referred to in this publication is the imputed market value of social housing rented dwellings. See Table 3.

P.3        Final consumption expenditure of Government is equal to the total of its output (P.1) plus the expenditure on products/services supplied to households via market producers minus the sales of goods and services (at both market and non-market prices). This is made up of individual non-market services plus collective non-market services (P.31 and P.32). See Table 4.  

Categories of Financial Flows

F.1       Monetary gold and special drawing rights (SDRs)

            F.11     Monetary gold

            F.12     Special drawing rights (SDRs)

F.2       Currency and deposits

            F.21     Currency

            F.22     Transferable deposits

            F.29     Other deposits

F.3       Debt securities

            F.31     Short-term

            F.32     Long-term

F.4       Loans

            F.41 - Short-term loans

            F.42 - Long-term loans

F.5       Equity and investment fund shares

            F.51 Equity

            F.52 Investment fund shares/units

F.6       Insurance pension and standardised guarantee schemes

F.7       Financial derivatives and employee stock options

            F.71     Financial derivatives

            F.72     Employee stock options

F.8       Other accounts receivable/payable

            F.81     Trade credits and advances

            F.89     Other trade credits

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