The results contained in this release reflect some of the economic impacts of the COVID-19 situation. For further information see Background Notes.
Gross general government debt decreased by €461 million in the quarter to €236.1 billion. This was accounted for almost entirely by the movement in debt securities (€1.6 billion redemption of short term and €900 million issuance of long term). There were smaller changes in the other debt categories with currency and deposits rising by €195 million and loans rising by €42 million. The debt to GDP ratio stood at 49.0% at the end of the third quarter.
EDP debt instrument assets increased by €2.4 billion in the quarter which, when combined with the small fall in debt liabilities, resulted in net general government debt decreasing by €2.9 billion (Table 3.1). The rise in assets is due to an increase in currency and deposits of €2.9 billion combined with a decrease in loans of €480 million.
| Currency & Deposits | Long term loans | Short term loans | Long term debt securities | Short term debt securities | |
| Q1 2020 | 22.5 | 47.3 | 0.6 | 134.6 | 8.6 |
| Q2 2020 | 22.9 | 47.3 | 0.5 | 137.7 | 17.4 |
| Q3 2020 | 23.3 | 46.6 | 0.4 | 141.1 | 15.7 |
| Q4 2020 | 23.7 | 46.1 | 0.5 | 138.1 | 9.3 |
| Q1 2021 | 24.3 | 48.2 | 0.8 | 144.9 | 12.1 |
| Q2 2021 | 24.7 | 48.2 | 0.7 | 151.2 | 9.7 |
| Q3 2021 | 24.9 | 48.2 | 0.5 | 153.6 | 9.1 |
| Q4 2021 | 25.1 | 48.5 | 0.4 | 156.4 | 5.7 |
| Q1 2022 | 25.4 | 48.7 | 0.8 | 153.2 | 7.1 |
| Q2 2022 | 25.6 | 48.6 | 0.6 | 154 | 7.8 |
| Q3 2022 | 25.8 | 49 | 0.5 | 155 | 6.2 |
Figure 3.1 above shows that the composition of general government debt remains relatively stable over time. In Q3 2022 securities accounted for over 68% of the total - long term securities made up 65% of the total and short term securities made up 3%.
The market value of the State's assets in Equity and Investment Fund Shares (AF.5, Table 3.3) rose by €0.2 billion in the quarter to stand at €34.0 billion at the end of Q3 2022. Over this period the fall in value was composed of a reduction in holdings of these assets of €0.3 billion (Table 3.2), combined with unrealised holding gains of €0.5 billion (Tables 3.2 and 3.3). The reduction in equity holdings during the quarter is largely explained by the sale of the State’s remaining shares in Bank of Ireland. This sell-off resulted in proceeds to the Exchequer of €307.6 million.
Net investment into small savings schemes, predominantly by households, continued during the third quarter of 2022 as the State’s liability from these schemes grew by a further €195 million. The total investment into these savings products, over the one-year period covering Q3 2021 – Q3 2022, amounted to €935 million (F.2 liabilities, Table 3.2).
The market value of total liabilities (AF.L, Table 3.3) fell by €8.5 billion during Q3 2022. This was dominated by a drop in market value of AF.3 - Debt Securities of €8.3 billion, which was largely explained by downward market price changes of €7.3 billion, with the residual movement due to net repayment of €1.0 billion.
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