Provisional¹ results (accordingly European System of Accounts (ESA 2010) methodology) compiled by the Central Statistical Bureau (CSB) show that, in 2018 general government budget deficit accounted for EUR 295.4 million or 1 % of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and general government consolidated gross debt amounted to EUR 10.6 billion or 35.9 % of the GDP.

General government sector includes all central and local government budgetary institutions, the social security fund and the central and local government-financed and controlled enterprises selected in compliance with ESA 2010 criteria on government sector formation.

General Government Budget Deficit or Surplus and Debt

	2015	2016	2017	2018
Budget deficit (-) / Surplus (+), million EUR
General government	-331.4	16.2	-155.7	-295.4
Central government	-447.4	-15.4	-196.8	-319.6
Local governments	79.4	56.2	-49.4	-214.2
Social security fund	36.4	-24.6	90.5	238.4
General government consolidated gross debt at nominal value at end of year, million EUR	8 953.3	10 091.6	10 806.8	10 608.0
As % of GDP
General government budget deficit (-)	-1.4	0.1	-0.6	-1.0
General government consolidated gross debt at nominal value at the end of year	36.8	40.3	40.0	35.9

As compared to operating cash flow data of the Treasury where consolidated budget deficit in 2018 was EUR 215.1 million, budget deficit calculated by the CSB in accordance with the methodological requirements of European System of Accounts 2010 is EUR 80.3 million or 0.3 percentage points of GDP less.

Most significant methodological adjustments with positive effect on the general government budget:

adjustments in claims against debtors (data of the Treasury) – by EUR 156.6 million or 0.5 % of GDP;
adjustments of expenditure on construction of the Southern Bridge (data of Riga City Council) – by EUR 26.8 million or 0.1 % of GDP;
adjustments for exclusion of transactions of derived financial instruments (data of the Treasury) – by EUR 21.2 million or 0.1 % of GDP;
adjustments for balancing foreign financial aid flow (data of institutions involved in administration of foreign funds) – by EUR 19.5 million or 0.1 % of GDP;
balance of the Deposit Guarantee Fund (data of the Financial and Capital Market Commission) – by EUR 18.5 million or 0.1 % of GDP;
tax adjustments by using the time adjustment method (data of the Ministry of Finance) – by EUR 8 million or 0.03 % of GDP.

At the same time, there have also been adjustments with negative effect on the general government budget:

adjustments to obligations against creditors (data of the Treasury) – by EUR 130.2 million or 0.4 % of GDP;
adjustments to revenues from auctioning of emission allowances granted to Latvia (data of the Treasury) – by EUR 81 million or 0.3 % of GDP;
balance of corporate enterprises of central and local governments reclassified to general government (CSB data) – by EUR 50.7 million or 0.2 % of GDP;
adjustment of securities premium in the issue year to ensure recognition of premiums in revenue in the following years until the redemption of securities (data of the Treasury) – by EUR 44.2 million or 0.1 % of GDP;
adjustments for future payments of the 2nd pillar pension scheme funds (data of the State Social Insurance Agency) – by EUR 22.9 million or 0.1 % of GDP;
adjustments for government investments in state and local government enterprises (data of the Treasury) – by EUR 5.5 million or 0.02 % of GDP.

As compared to 2017, the general government consolidated gross debt in 2018 reduced by EUR 0.2 billion or 1.8 % and comprised EUR 10.6 billion.

Calculations of the April 2019 Notification are based on the data of the Ministry of Finance, the Treasury, State Social Insurance Agency, CSB, Riga City Council, Financial and Capital Market Commission, Central Finance and Contracting Agency and institutions involved in the administration of foreign funds.

Information on the results of the April 2019 notifications of all EU Member States will be published by Eurostat on April 23.

Methodological explanations

¹In accordance with the requirements of Regulation (EC) No. 479/2009, the Notification on General Government Budget Deficit and Debt is submitted to the European Commission twice a year – by 1 April and 1 October. The results of the Notification are used for assessing how the EU Member States observe the compliance of the respective economic indicators with the criteria established by the Maastricht Treaty, that is, the ratio of the planned and actual general government budget deficit to the GDP at current prices must not exceed 3.0 % and the ratio of the government debt to the gross domestic product at current prices must be no more than 60.0 %.

Media requests:
Communication Section
E-mail: media@csb.gov.lv
Phone: +371 67366924, +371 27880666

More information on data:
Vija Veidemane
Government Finances Section
E-mail: Vija.Veidemane@csb.gov.lv
Phone: +371 67366963

Government finance

KEY INDICATORS

Main aggregates of general governmentGVF01

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Public Finances of Latvia 2018P184301

SDGs and Me (Eurostat)P185301

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