Informations rapides
30 June 2016
2016- n° 168
At the end of Q1 2016, the Maastricht debt accounted for 97.5% of GDP Debt of the general government according to the Maastricht definition - 1st Quarter 2016

At the end of Q1 2016, the Maastricht debt amounted to €2,137.6 billion, a €40.7 billion increase in comparison to Q4 2015. It accounted for 97.5% of GDP, 1.4 points higher than the Q4 2015's level. The net public debt increased more slowly (€ +17.9 billion).

Informations rapides
No 168
Paru le :Paru le30/06/2016
Prochaine parution le : 26/06/2025 at 08:45 - first quarter 2025
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Erratum: this Informations rapides replaces and supersedes the issue published on 30 June 2016 at 8:45 am, the Maastricht debt to GDP ratio in Q1 2016 being rectified.

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 the Maastricht gross public debt, net acquisitions of financial assets and other accounts receivable and payable must also be taken into consideration, as well as the fact that the Maastricht debt is in nominal value. Moreover, the quarterly deficit published by INSEE is seasonally and trading-day adjusted, which is not the case of the quarterly debt.

The Maastricht debt increased by €40.7 billion compared to the previous quarter

At the end of Q1 2016, the Maastricht debt amounted to €2,137.6 billion, a €40.7 billion increase in comparison to Q4 2015. It accounted for 97.5% of GDP, 1.4 points higher than the Q4 2015's level. The net public debt increased more slowly (€ +17.9 billion).

State and social security funds debts went up

In the first quarter of 2016, the State contribution to the debt increased by €32.9 billion. This rise stemmed mainly from long-etrm negotiable debt (€ +32.9 billion). Short-term negociable debt went up more moderately (€ +1.9 billion). At the same time, the total amounts of long term loans increased by €0.9 billion. On the contrary, deposits to the French Treasury diminished by €2.9 billion.

Social security funds contribution to debt went up (€ +10.1 billion), above all because of ACOSS (€ +6.4 billion) which borrowed from units outside of general government to pay back €8.1 billion of negotiable debt held by the CADES (shares held by CADES are not included in Maastricht consolidated debt, see methodological note). Furthermore, UNEDIC indebted by €3.1 billion and CADES by €2.6 billion. Conversely, CNAF reduced its debts by €1.1 billion and CANSSM by €0.7 billion.

Local government and central agencies debts decreased

The contribution of local government went down (€ −2.3 billion). Municipalities repaid €1.4 billion and departments €0.9 billion. The contribution of other local government units (regions, intercommunal syndicates and local agencies) was stable.

Central agencies' contribution diminished by € −0.1 billion as the Commissariat à l'énergie atomique (CEA) paid back €0.1 billion of short-term loan.

GraphIR – General government debt under the Maastricht treaty (% of GDP) (*)

TableauA – General government debt under the Maastricht treatyby sub-sector and by category

(billion euros)
General government debt under the Maastricht treatyby sub-sector and by category ((billion euros))
2015Q1 2015Q2 2015Q3 2015Q4 2016Q1
General Government 2,091.9 2,107.9 2,105.7 2,096.9 2,137.6
%of GDP 97.3% 97.6% 97.1% 96.1% 97.5%
of which, by sub-sector :
State 1,648.5 1,673.9 1,672.7 1,661.2 1,694.1
Central Agencies 22.1 22.1 22.1 18.9 18.9
Local Government 188.7 187.5 185.9 196.5 194.2
Social security funds 232.5 224.4 225.0 220.3 230.4
of which, by category
Currency and deposits 38.3 41.0 41.7 39.2 36.4
Securities other than shares 1,762.5 1,778.1 1,774.8 1,760.7 1,812.6
short-term 213.6 191.7 189.7 177.2 187.4
long-term 1,548.9 1,586.4 1,585.1 1,583.5 1,625.2
Loans 291.1 288.8 289.3 296.9 288.6
short-term 17.6 15.2 14.0 14.6 14.1
long-term 273.5 273.6 275.2 282.3 274.5
  • (*) Explanations in the box "For more details"
  • Source : National Accounts, 2010 base - INSEE, DGFiP, Banque de France

In Q1 2016, the net public debt increased by €17.9 billion

At the end of Q1 2016, the net public debt reached €1,922.8 billion (equivalent to 87.7% of GDP versus to 87.3% in Q4 2015), a €17.9 billion rise compared to the previous quarter. The € −22.8 billion gap between changes in net and gross debt is mainly explained by a sharp increase in the State's cash position (€ +18.3 billion) and in the cash position of social security funds (€ +4.6 billion). The cash position of central agencies rose slightly (€ +0.3 billion). Local government lent €0.3 billion. The State was reimbursed €0.7 billion of long-term loans.

TableauB – General government net debt by sub-sector

(billion euros)
General government net debt by sub-sector ((billion euros))
2015Q1 2015Q2 2015Q3 2015Q4 2016Q1
General government 1,867.6 1,895.9 1,894.5 1,904.9 1,922.8
of which :
The State 1,518.1 1,551.8 1,553.8 1,556.7 1,572.1
Central Agencies 6.2 5.8 5.6 3.0 2.9
Local government 176.3 175.1 173.6 184.0 181.4
Social security funds 167.1 163.2 161.6 161.2 166.5

    Graph_dette_nette – Maastricht gross debt and net debt

    The overall value of quoted shares and mutual fund shares held by general government decreased

    In Q1 2016, the value of quoted shares and mutual fund shares held by general government units went down to €211.1 billion, a €6.2 billion decrease compared to Q4 2015. The quoted shares held by the State lost €6.8 billion of value, mostly because of EDF and Engie shares depreciation. Conversely, The State borrowed €1.0 billion of Alstom shares from Bouygues. Concurrently, social security funds' shares lost €2.6 billion of value.

    The value of mutual fund shares held went up by €2.1 billion, mainly due to UNEDIC (€ +3.1 billion). Conversely, the caisse nationale d'assurance vieillesse des professions libérales sold €0.4 billion of mutual fund shares. Finally, the value of various mutual fund shares held by the general government diminished by €0.7 billion thereby limiting the overall rise.

    TableauC – General government holdings of quoted shares and mutual fund shares

    (billion euros)
    General government holdings of quoted shares and mutual fund shares ((billion euros))
    2015Q1 2015Q2 2015Q3 2015Q4 2016Q1
    General government 238.8 230.5 215.3 217.3 211.1
    of which :
    The State 75.5 72.2 64.1 62.0 56.2
    Central Agencies 35.1 33.9 31.2 31.6 31.6
    Local government 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2
    Social security funds 128.0 124.2 119.8 123.5 123.1

      Graph_F5 – General government holdings of quoted shares and mutual fund shares

      Documentation

      Methodology (pdf,131 Ko)

      Quarterly national accounts

      Pour en savoir plus

      : bureau-de-presse@insee.fr
      :

      Publication calendar

      Time series : General government debt and deficit as defined by Maastricht

      Quaterly national accounts