20 December 2019

2019- n° 340

At the end of Q3 2019, the Maastricht debt accounted for €2,415.1 billion Debt of the general government according to the Maastricht definition - third quarter 2019

At the end of Q3 2019, Maastricht’s debt reached €2,415.1 billion, up €39.6 billion in comparison to Q2 2019. It accounted for 100.4% of gross domestic product (GDP), 0.9 points higher than last quarter. Net public debt increased more moderately (€+15.0 billion) and accounted for 90.3 % of GDP.

In the third quarter of 2019, the State’s contribution to debt increased by €41.6 billion. This rise stemmed mainly from long-term negotiable debt (€+35.8 billion) and to a lesser extent from short-term negotiable debt (€+4.1 billion). Deposits at the French Treasury increased too (€+1.8 billion). The debt’s increase is to be compared to the rise of the cash position of the State (€+22.5 billion).

The contribution of central agencies to the debt increased by € 0.5 billion above all because of SNCF Réseau (€+0,2 billion) and Campus Condorcet (€+0,2 billion).

The contribution of local government to the debt went down by €0.7 billion, reflecting the reduction in the debt of the regions (€−0.6 billion) and departments (€−0.3 billion).Conversely, Île-de-France Mobilités borrowed €0.1 billion.

In Q3 2019, the contribution of social security funds decreased by €1.7 billion due to the CADES (€−3.1 billion). Conversely, ACOSS, UNEDIC and CNAF increased their debt (respectively +€0.7 billion, +€0.5 billion and +€0.2 billion).

At the end of Q3 2019, the net public debt reached €2,171.8 billion, up €15.0 billion (equivalent to 90.3% of GDP, the same level as in the previous quarter). The €24.6 billion gap between changes in net and gross debt mainly reflects an increase in the cash position of the State (€+22.5 billion). The cash position of central agencies and social security funds increased to a lesser extent (respectively by €0.2 billion and by €1.0 billion). Lastly, the Fonds de réserve des retraites purchased €0.2 billion of debt securities.

In Q3 2019, the overall value of quoted shares and undertaking for collective investment schemes (UCIs) held by general government units went up to €249.0 billion, a €2.8 billion increase compared to Q2 2019.

The quoted shares held by the State increased by €2.4 billion of value because of the rise in the stock market price of Aéroports de Paris and Engie. Moreover, the Fonds de réserves des retraites increased its quoted shares by €0.3 billion. Conversely, the drop in the price of EDF shares lead to a loss of €1.7 billion.

The UCI shares went up due to purchases of the Caisse nationale d’assurance vieillesse des professions libérales (€+0.7 billion), UNEDIC (€+0.2 billion), the Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (€+0.2 billion) and the FRR (€+0.2 billion).