25 March 2020

2020- n° 72

At the end of Q4 2019, the Maastricht debt accounted for €2,380.1 billion Debt of the general government according to the Maastricht definition - fourth quarter 2019

At the end of Q4 2019, Maastricht’s debt reached €2,380.1 billion, a €34.6 billion decrease in comparison to Q3 2019. It accounted for 98.1% of gross domestic product (GDP), 2.3 points lower than last quarter. Net public debt decreased more moderately (€−2.6 billion) and accounted for 89.5 % of GDP.

In the fourth quarter of 2019, the State’s contribution to debt decreased by €35.1 billion. This diminution stemmed mainly from long-term negotiable debt (€−24.1 billion) and to a lesser extent from short-term negotiable debt (€−6.6 billion). Deposits at the French Treasury decreased too (€−2.2 billion). Credits on the liability side decreased too by €2.2 billion due to the debt repayment to EDF under the Contribution au service public de l’électricité (€−1.6 billion). Furthermore, Portugal paid back a loan under the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) for €0.4 billion.

The contribution of central agencies to the debt decreased to a lesser extent (€−0.9 billion) due to SNCF Réseau (€−1.2 billion). Conversely, Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA) increased its debt by €0.3 billion.

In Q4 2019, the contribution of social security funds decreased by €3.0 billion due to CADES (€−6.6 billion). Conversely, ACOSS, CNAF and UNEDIC increased their debt (respectively +€1.8 billion, +€1.1 billion and +€0.6 billion).

The contribution of local government to the debt went up to €4.4 billion, reflecting the increase in the debt of the municipalities (€+2.7 billion), regions (€+0.8 billion), departments (€+0.6 billion) and local communities syndicates (€+0.4 billion).

At the end of Q4 2019, the net public debt reached €2,170.7 billion, down €2.6 billion (equivalent to 89.5% of GDP versus 90.4 % the previous quarter). The €32.0 billion gap between changes in net and gross debt mainly reflects a decrease in the cash position of the State (€−24.5 billion), social security funds (€−6.7 billion) and central agencies (€−0.9 billion).

In Q4 2019, the overall value of quoted shares and undertaking for collective investment schemes (UCIs) held by general government units went down to €237.8 billion, a €1.4 billion decrease compared to Q3 2019.

The quoted shares held by the State decreased to €3.6 billion because of the decrease in the stock market price of EDF, Orange and Renault. Moreover, the State sold €1.9 billion of Française des Jeux shares.

The quoted shares and UCI shares of social security funds went up (€+2.2 billion) due to purchases of the Caisse nationale d’assurance vieillesse des professions libérales (€+0.7 billion), Sécurité sociale pour les indépendants (€+0.4 billion), Retraite complémentaire publique (€+0.5 billion) and UNEDIC (€+0.5 billion).