The general government debt at the end of December 2022 amounted to 68.4% of GDP, a decrease of 10 percentage points, continuing the downward trend which began in Q2 2021, the Croatian Central Bank (HNB) said on Friday. Pročitaj više

Measured against the annual GDP, the debt-to-GDP ratio continued to fall for the seventh quarter in a row and at end of 2022 recorded the lowest value since the end of 2012, when it stood at 69.2%.

The debt at the end of December 2022 was 68.4% of GDP, a decrease of 10.0 pp from 78.4% of GDP at the end of December 2021 and a decrease of 2 pp from the end of the previous quarter, when this share stood at 70.4%.

The annual fall in the debt-to-GDP ratio of 10 pp was the result of a very strong nominal GDP growth and a marginal increase in debt.

According to the final data of government finance statistics for Q4 2022, the total consolidated debt of all general government sub-sectors reached €46.1 billion at the end of December 2022, up by 0.9% from the end of September 2022 and by 1% from the end of December 2021.

The annual increase in debt was due to a decrease in the external debt of €0.6 billion (or 3.8%) and an increase in the domestic debt of €1 billion (or 3.5%). Domestic debt fell by €0.1 billion (or 0.3%), and external debt rose by €0.5 billion (or 3.4%) compared to the end of the previous quarter.

Long-term debt instruments dominate the maturity structure of unconsolidated general government debt. At the end of December 2022, most of this debt was made up of bonds (64.8%), followed by long-term loans (30.5%), and short-term loans, securities and deposits (jointly 4.6%).

The short-term debt components decreased by €0.7 billion (or 24.2%) from the end of December 2021 to the end of December 2022, while the long-term debt components increased by €1.0 billion (or 2.4%) during the same period.