Gross general government debt decreased by €1.9 billion in the quarter to €220.7 billion. This was accounted for almost entirely by the movement in long term loans, as a €2 billion repayment of the EFSM loan package was made in the quarter. Future quarters will continue to see scheduled repayments of the loans provided by the EU under this programme. The debt to GDP ratio stood at 43.7% at the end of the quarter.
EDP debt instrument assets decreased by €425 million in the quarter which, when combined with the fall in debt liabilities, resulted in net general government debt decreasing by €1.5 billion (Tables 3.1 & 3.2). The change in assets is made up of increases in debt securities of €624 million and a decreases of €918 million in currency and deposits and €132 million in loans (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 | 48.3 | 0.5 | 153.6 | 9 |
| Q4 2021 | 25.1 | 48.7 | 0.4 | 156.4 | 5.6 |
| Q1 2022 | 25.4 | 48.8 | 0.8 | 153.2 | 7 |
| Q2 2022 | 25.6 | 48.8 | 0.6 | 154 | 7.7 |
| Q3 2022 | 25.8 | 48.8 | 0.5 | 154.9 | 6.1 |
| Q4 2022 | 25.9 | 48.9 | 0.4 | 148.9 | 0.7 |
| Q1 2023 | 26 | 49 | 0.3 | 146 | 2.3 |
| Q2 2023 | 26.1 | 49 | 0.3 | 146.2 | 1.5 |
| Q3 2023 | 25.9 | 49 | 0.3 | 146.7 | 0.6 |
| Q4 2023 | 25.9 | 47.2 | 0.3 | 146.7 | 0.6 |
Figure 3.1 above shows that the composition of general government debt remains relatively stable over time. In Q4 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 €33.0 billion at the end of Q4 2023, representing a fall of €1.1 billion in the quarter. This decrease in value was made up of a combination of the following movements – net disposals of these assets of €668 million (AF.5, Table 3.2), together with unrealised holding losses of €451 million. The net disposal of assets during the quarter is mainly due to sales of equities and investment fund shares held by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, dominated to a large extent by the sell-off of a further 5% of the State’s stake in AIB in November. This AIB share sale was worth approximately €515 million to the Exchequer.
Investment in short-term debt securities (AF.31, Table 3.3) continued to rise with holdings standing at €6.0 billion at the end of the quarter. The majority of these assets are held by the National Treasury Management Agency, which has invested significantly in foreign treasury bills over recent quarters, for the purpose of attracting a more favourable rate of interest on cash reserves.
The market value of total liabilities (AF.L, Table 3.3) grew by €7.2 billion to stand at €235.4 billion at the end of Q4 2023 . This change in value was mainly composed of the following combination of movements – net repayment/redemption of liabilities in loans and debt securities of €2.5 billion (AF.3 and AF.4, Table 3.2) and holding gains on the long-term debt securities of €9.6 billion. A number of lesser flows in other liabilities make up the residual movement.
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