30 September 2014
2014 - n° 225At the end of Q2 2014, the Maastricht debt accounted for 95.1 % of GDPDebt of the general government according to the Maastricht definition - 2nd quarter
2014
At the end of Q2 2014, the Maastricht debt reached €2,023.7bn, a €28.7bn increase in comparison to Q1 2014. It accounted for 95.1 % of GDP, 1.1 point higher than Q1 2014’s level. The net public debt growth is less dynamic (+€23.7bn).
- The Maastricht debt increased by €28.7bn compared to the previous quarter
- The State debt rose
- The social security funds, local government and central agencies debt went down
- The net public debt increased less rapidly than the gross public debt
- The value of quoted shares and mutual fund shares decreased
Warnings : Quarterly debt figures are based on an accounting data source less exhaustive than the annual accounts. Results may therefore be updated during several quarters.
Quarterly debt variations alone are not sufficient to forecast the deficit for the current quarter. To obtain the deficit from the change in Maastricht gross public debt, net acquisitions of financial assets and other accounts receivable and payable must also be taken into consideration.
From this quarter onwards, the “caisse nationale des autoroutes” (CNA) is considered a part of general government. Its debt at the end of Q2 2014 amounts to € 7.2bn and its assets are equivalent. Integrating the CNA therefore leads to an increase in Maastricht debt, which is gross, but leaves the net debt unchanged. The correction has been backcasted on the whole period 1995-2014, so that this methodological change does not entail a break in the series between Q1 and Q2 of 2014.
The Maastricht debt increased by €28.7bn compared to the previous quarter
At the end of Q2 2014, the Maastricht debt reached €2,023.7bn, a €28.7bn increase in comparison to Q1 2014. It accounted for 95.1 % of GDP, 1.1 point higher than Q1 2014’s level. The net public debt growth is less dynamic (+€23.7bn).
The State debt rose
The State contribution to the debt rose by €35.3bn inQ2 2014. The increase was driven by long-term negotiable debt (+€30.2bn) and short term negotiable debt (+€3.1bn). Moreover a €1.7bn long term loan granted to the Eurozone countries by the FESF adds to the debt (see the remark below).
The social security funds, local government and central agencies debt went down
In Q2 2014, Social security funds contribution to debt went down by €3.9bn. The main movements come from Cades which paid back €3.2bn, Pôle Emploi which paid back €2.1bn of short term loans and UNEDIC which issued €2.0bn of convertible bonds.
Local government contribution to debt diminished by €1.6bn: they paid back €1.4bn of long-term loans and €0.6bn in short-term loans. They issued €0.4bn of convertible bonds
The contribution of central agencies (central government units other than the State) decreased by €1.2bn.
graphique GraphIR – General government debt under the Maastricht treaty (% of GDP) (*)
tableau TableauA – General government debt under the Maastricht treaty by sub-sector and by category
| 2013Q2 | 2013Q3 | 2013Q4 | 2014Q1 | 2014Q2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Government | 1,946.9 | 1,935.5 | 1,949.5 | 1,995.0 | 2,023.7 |
| %of GDP | 92,6% | 91,8% | 92,2% | 94,0% | 95,1% |
| of which, by sub-sector : | |||||
| State | 1,533.9 | 1,524.7 | 1,534.0 | 1,577.3 | 1,612.6 |
| Central Agencies | 26,7 | 25,5 | 21,5 | 21,3 | 20,1 |
| Local Government | 172,0 | 172,2 | 182,3 | 180,2 | 178,6 |
| Social security funds | 214,2 | 213,2 | 211,7 | 216,3 | 212,4 |
| of which, by category | |||||
| Currency and deposits | 39,5 | 39,1 | 40,3 | 39,2 | 39,5 |
| Securities other than shares | 1,638.5 | 1,626.1 | 1,629.0 | 1,682.6 | 1,712.5 |
| short-term | 202,7 | 210,6 | 199,9 | 214,1 | 213,6 |
| long-term | 1,435.9 | 1,415.5 | 1,429.1 | 1,468.4 | 1,498.9 |
| Loans | 268,9 | 270,3 | 280,2 | 273,3 | 271,6 |
| short-term | 8,0 | 9,6 | 9,1 | 11,1 | 8,8 |
| long-term | 261,0 | 260,7 | 271,1 | 262,1 | 262,8 |
- (*) Explanations in the box "For more details"
- Source : National Accounts 2010 basis - Insee, DGFiP, Banque de France
The net public debt increased less rapidly than the gross public debt
At the end of Q2 2014, the net public debt reached €1,813.9bn (equivalent to 85.3 % of GDP as opposed to 84.3 % in the previous quarter), a €23.7bn increase compared to the previous quarter. The €5.0bn gap between changes in net and gross debt is explained by the dynamism of the State’s treasury (+€4.6bn). The State also lent for €1.7bn through the FESF and foreign banks or states paid back €0.3bn. Central agencies, local government and Social security funds also take part in this difference to a lesser extent.
tableau TableauB – General government net debt by sub-sector
| 2013Q2 | 2013Q3 | 2013Q4 | 2014Q1 | 2014Q2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General government | 1,727.3 | 1,742.7 | 1,773.0 | 1,790.2 | 1,813.9 |
| of which : | |||||
| The State | 1,396.0 | 1,414.8 | 1,431.9 | 1,449.9 | 1,479.2 |
| Central Agencies | 8,9 | 7,5 | 4,4 | 3,8 | 3,6 |
| Local government | 159,8 | 159,9 | 170,0 | 167,5 | 166,3 |
| Social security funds | 162,6 | 160,4 | 166,7 | 169,0 | 164,8 |
graphique Graph_dette_nette – Maastricht gross debt and net debt
The value of quoted shares and mutual fund shares decreased
At the end of Q2 2014, the value of quoted shares and mutual fund shares held by general government units reached €226.3bn, a €7.2bn decrease compared to Q1 2014. The value of quoted shares went down by €8.8bn due to the appreciation of shares held by State (-€8.8bn) mostly in EDF. The value of mutual fund shares grew by €1.5bn this quarter, related to the purchase of €1.0bn of money market funds by Unedic and €0.4bn by other social security units.
tableau TableauC – General government holdings of quoted shares and mutual fund shares
| 2013Q2 | 2013Q3 | 2013Q4 | 2014Q1 | 2014Q2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General government | 197,4 | 218,9 | 220,9 | 233,5 | 226,3 |
| of which : | |||||
| The State | 56.2 | 70.0 | 71.9 | 80.7 | 72.0 |
| Central Agencies | 24.7 | 27.4 | 28.2 | 29.0 | 29.1 |
| Local government | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Social security funds | 116.2 | 121.2 | 120.6 | 123.5 | 125.0 |
graphique Graph_F5 – General government holdings of quoted shares and mutual fund shares
Remark : The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), settled on June 7th 2010, borrows on financial market to lend to Eurozone countries in turmoil (Greece, Portugal, Ireland). Its bonds issuances are guaranteed by the other Member States, including France. Following Eurostat’s decision of January 27th 2011, all the operations of the EFSF are reincorporated into the public accounts of the guarantor States, proportionally to their commitments. This treatment leaves their net debts unchanged. During Q2 2014 France lent through FESF for Greece (€1.4bn) and for Portugal (€0.3bn).
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