Gross general government debt decreased by €0.4 billion in the quarter to €222.6 billion. This was accounted for almost entirely by the movement in debt securities (redemptions of €846 million in short term and net issuance of €497 million in long term securities). There were also changes in the other debt categories with currency and deposits falling by €191 million and loans rising by €159 million. The debt to GDP ratio stood at 43.6% at the end of the quarter.
EDP debt instrument assets increased by €744 million in the quarter which, when combined with the fall in debt liabilities, resulted in net general government debt decreasing by €1.1 billion (Tables 3.1 & 3.2). The change in assets is made up of increases in debt securities of €1.9 billion and a decrease of €1.1 billion in currency and deposits (Tables 3.1 & 3.3)
| Currency & Deposits | Long term loans | Short term loans | Long term debt securities | Short term debt securities | |
| Q1 2021 | 24.3 | 48.3 | 0.9 | 144.9 | 12.1 |
| Q2 2021 | 24.7 | 48.3 | 0.7 | 151.2 | 9.7 |
| Q3 2021 | 24.9 | 48.4 | 0.5 | 153.6 | 9 |
| Q4 2021 | 25.1 | 48.7 | 0.4 | 156.4 | 5.6 |
| Q1 2022 | 25.4 | 48.9 | 0.8 | 153.2 | 7 |
| Q2 2022 | 25.6 | 48.9 | 0.6 | 154 | 7.7 |
| Q3 2022 | 25.8 | 49 | 0.5 | 154.9 | 6.1 |
| Q4 2022 | 25.9 | 48.9 | 0.4 | 148.9 | 0.7 |
| Q1 2023 | 26 | 49 | 0.4 | 146 | 2.3 |
| Q2 2023 | 26.1 | 48.9 | 0.3 | 146.2 | 1.5 |
| Q3 2023 | 25.9 | 49 | 0.3 | 146.7 | 0.6 |
Figure 3.1 above shows that the composition of general government debt remains relatively stable over time. In Q3 2023 securities accounted for over 66% of the total. Long-term securities made up almost the entire total, with short-term securities accounting for less than 1%.
The market value of the State's assets in Equity and Investment Fund Shares (AF.5, Table 3.3) stood at €34.0 billion at the end of Q3 2023, representing a marginal rise of €26 million in the quarter. This relatively small increase in value was composed of two offsetting movements –net disposals of these assets of €172 million (AF.5, Table 3.2), together with unrealised holding gains of €198 million. The net disposals during the quarter is due largely to sales of equities and investment fund shares by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund.
For the first time since Q2 2018, investment into small savings schemes fell as the predominant investor in such schemes, households, withdrew €191 million (F.2, Table 3.2) in net terms. Total investment in these savings schemes peaked at €26.1 billion (AF.3, Table 3.3) in Q2 2023 and the drop in the level of savings in the third quarter to €25.9 billion represents a fall of 0.7%.
The final tranche of floating rate bonds were purchased and cancelled by the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) during the quarter. The final €534 million of the bonds which were due to mature in 2053, was purchased from the Central Bank of Ireland. The bonds had been issued in 2013 in connection with the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation and with this transaction all €25 billion of originally issued bonds have been fully purchased and cancelled.
The market value of total liabilities (AF.L, Table 3.3) fell by €5.1 billion to stand at €228.0 billion at the end of Q3 2023 . This change in value was mainly composed of the following combination of movements – net redemption of both short and long-term bonds (AF.3, Table 3.3, €0.5 billion), net repayment of other accounts payable and trade credits (AF.8, Table 3.3, €0.3 billion) and holding losses on the long-term securities of €4.4 billion.
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