At the end of 2017, the total expenditures of the government sector exceeded the revenues by €66.1 million, accounted as the Maastricht deficit criteria. The central government as well as the local government sub-sectors ended the year in deficit. The budget surplus of social security funds increased to €58.9 million. By the end of 2017, the deficit of the central government sub-sector was €67.4 million and the consolidated budget of the local government sector was €57.6 million in deficit.

The consolidated debt of the government sector (Maastricht debt) amounted to slightly over €2 billion by the end of 2017, having increased four percent compared to 2016. The debt level increased in the local government as well as the central government sub-sectors. At the end of 2017, the debt of the central government sub-sector totaled €2.3 billion, €898 million of which were liabilities towards other sub-sectors.

The share of foreign debt in the central government’s loan liabilities was 49 percent. Long-term loan liabilities decreased by three percent year on year. The volume of long-term securities issued by the public legal institutions, foundations and enterprises belonging to the central government was €98.6 million, up 83 percent on year.

The overall debt level of the local government sub-sector increased by 7 percent compared to 2016 and stood at €800 million at the end of 2017. The volume of long-term securities decreased by one percent and loan liabilities increased by nine percent on year. Liabilities towards the rest of the world accounted for 22 percent of local government debt.

Social security funds did not contribute to the debt of the government sector.