General government gross debt (the level of government borrowing) fell by over €11 billion to €224.8 billion (Table 3.1). Since 2019 the level of debt has increased by €21.4 billion. The debt to GDP ratio has decreased from 55.4% at the end of 2021 to 44.7% at the end of last year, thus remaining below the Stability and Growth Pact threshold of 60%. This is largely due to the continued strong performance of GDP in the year.
General government net debt fell by €7.4 billion to €185.4 billion (36.9% of GDP) at the end of 2022. 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).
The market value of total liabilities fell by €44.7 billion during 2022 compared with its end-2021 value of €279.2 billion. This movement in value was composed of a net reduction in liabilities amounting to €13.2 billion (Table 3.2) together with a combination of market price changes and currency effects totalling -€31.5 billion. These market movements and currency effects, which mainly affected debt security (F.3) liabilities, were driven by fluctuating interest rates.
At the end of 2022, the value of the State's assets in Equity and Investment Fund Shares (AF.5, Table 3.3) stood at €34.0 billion, representing a year-on-year fall in value of €1.7 billion since Q4 2021. This drop in value was driven by the combination of a reduction in holdings in this asset class of €2.5 billion (Table 3.2) and an increase in the value of these holdings of €0.8 billion. The reduction in holdings of AF.5 assets was composed of a net sell-off by the Ireland Strategic Investment fund of €1.5 billion, primarily related to sales of shares held by the State in AIB and Bank of Ireland. The residual disposal of shares involved a withdrawal of equity held by the State in Central Bank reserves of €1.0 billion.
On the other side of the balance sheet the market value of the State's liabilities fell by €44.7 billion in 2022 to stand at €234.5 billion at year-end. Investment, largely by households, in small saving schemes continued in 2022 as the value of the State’s liabilities through these products (AF.2, Table 3.3) grew by €797 million during the year. Annual investment in these schemes peaked in 2020 at €1.5 billion, the cumulative investment since Q1 2020 totalling €3.7 billion.
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