Finland's national debt soared during the second quarter of 2020, the worst period of the global coronavirus pandemic.
According to Statistics Finland's figures, general government debt at nominal prices amounted to 163.4 billion euros at the end of June and grew by 8.6 billion euros during the quarter. Relative to GDP, Finland's public debt stood at 68.6%.
Compared to the same period one year before, Finland's public debt has grown by 17.7 billion.
Central government debt grew by 6.3 billion euros from April to June and amounted to 135 billion euros at the end of the quarter.
The number of short-term debt instruments with a maturity of under one year grew by 2.3 billion and the stock of other bonds by 4.5 billion. The stock of long-term loans went down by 0.1 billion and the stock of short-term loans fell by 0.4 billion.
Local government sector
The local government sector's debt grew by 0.7 billion euros and totaled 26.1 billion at the end of the quarter. The number of debt instruments fell by 0.8 billion and the loan stock grew by 1.5 billion. Social security funds' debt grew by 1.6 billion and totaled 3.6 billion at the end of the quarter.
Of them, employment pension schemes' debt grew by 0.3 billion due to cash collateral received in connection with derivative contracts and securities lending. The debt of other social security funds grew by 1.2 billion euros due to the growth in the stock of debt securities.
