Gross general government debt decreased by €11.5 billion in the quarter to €224.8 billion. This was accounted for almost entirely by the movement in debt securities (redemptions of €5.4 billion in short term and €6.0 billion in long term securities). There were minor changes in the other debt categories with currency and deposits rising by €75 million and loans falling by €148 million. The debt to GDP ratio stood at 44.7% at the end of the fourth quarter.
EDP debt instrument assets decreased by €9.9 billion in the quarter which, when combined with the larger fall in debt liabilities, resulted in net general government debt decreasing by €1.6 billion (Tables 3.1 & 3.2). The fall in assets is due to a decrease in currency and deposits of €10.1 billion combined with a small increase in securities of €263 million.
| Currency & Deposits | Long term loans | Short term loans | Long term debt securities | Short term debt securities | |
| Q1 2020 | 22.5 | 47 | 0.9 | 134.6 | 8.6 |
| Q2 2020 | 22.9 | 46.8 | 0.9 | 137.7 | 17.4 |
| Q3 2020 | 23.3 | 46.6 | 0.5 | 141.1 | 15.7 |
| Q4 2020 | 23.7 | 46.2 | 0.5 | 138.1 | 9.3 |
| 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 | 48.6 | 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 | 155 | 6.1 |
| Q4 2022 | 25.9 | 48.9 | 0.4 | 148.9 | 0.712 |
Figure 3.1 above shows that the composition of general government debt remains relatively stable over time. In Q4 2022 securities accounted for over 66% of the total - long term securities made up almost all of the 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, Tables 3.5 & 3.6) remained steady over the fourth quarter of 2022, holding at €34.0 billion. This net neutral change was composed of two offsetting movements – a reduction in holdings of these assets of €0.7 billion (AF.5, Tables 3.3 & 3.4), together with unrealised holding gains, also of €0.7 billion. The reduction in equity holdings during the quarter is due to a further sale of shares held by the State in AIB, which amounted to €515 million. This sell-off resulted in proceeds to the Exchequer of €396.7 million in the quarter.
Net investment into small savings schemes, predominantly by households, continued during the fourth quarter of 2022 as the State’s liability from these schemes grew by a further €75 million. This represents a quarter-on-quarter drop of €120 million in the level of quarterly investment into such schemes. The level of Investment into State savings schemes, over a quarter, peaked in Q1 2021 at €552 million.
The market value of total liabilities (AF.L, Table 3.6) fell by €14.4 billion during Q4 2022. This was dominated by a drop in the market value of AF.3 - Debt Securities of €14.8 billion, which was largely explained by downward market price changes of €2.3 billion, with the residual movement due to net repayment of €12.5 billion (AF.5, Table 3.4).
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