Govt’s net lending falls by €1b in Q2

The general government’s total consolidated revenue decreased by EUR 0.3 billion in the second quarter of this year from that in the corresponding quarter of 2017, according to Statistics Finland.

The consolidated total expenditure increased by EUR 0.6 billion from the previous year’s corresponding quarter. The general government’s financial position (net lending), that is the difference between revenue and expenditure, weakened by EUR 1.0 billion.

In the second quarter, central government’s total revenue amounted to EUR 15.1 billion and total expenditure was EUR 14.7 billion. The central government’s total revenue went down by 2.2 per cent from the respective quarter of the year before.

Local government’s total revenue was EUR 12.8 billion in the second quarter. It decreased by 0.7 per cent from the respective quarter of the previous year. The revenue item that grew most was market output. In turn, the revenue items that diminished most were income taxes received and sales of non-market products.

Local government’s total expenditure was EUR 12.6 billion in the second quarter. It went up by 3.6 per cent. The expenditure items that grew most were other intermediate consumption and wages and salaries. The difference between revenue and expenditure, that is, the surplus (net lending) of local government decreased by EUR 525 million and amounted to EUR 123 million.

Social security funds include employment pension schemes and other social security funds. In the second quarter, total revenue of employment pension schemes amounted to EUR 7.7 billion and total expenditure to EUR 6.7 billion. Total revenue increased by EUR 0.3 billion or by 4.1 per cent from the corresponding quarter in the year before and total expenditure increased by EUR 0.2 billion or by 3.7 per cent.

The revenue items that grew most were social contributions received, and in expenditure, paid social benefits other than social transfers in kind. The difference between revenue and expenditure, that is, the surplus (net lending) of employment pension schemes, went up by around EUR 0.1 billion from the corresponding quarter in 2017 and amounted to EUR 1.0 billion.

Other social security funds’ total revenue was EUR 4.6 billion in the second quarter. The total revenue decreased by 5.9 per cent from the corresponding quarter of one year ago. The fall in expenditure was influenced by the reduction in employers’ social contribution rate and lower income transfers from central government than one year ago. The expenditure of other social security funds amounted to EUR 4.7 billion and it fell by 1.8 per cent from the same quarter last year. The difference between revenue and expenditure, that is, the deficit (net borrowing) of other social security funds, was EUR 62 million in the second quarter.