The State Treasury has published its annual review on Finland’s central government debt management. This year, the review focuses on sustainable development.
“Finland has taken an active and ambitious approach to tackling climate change and promoting environmentally and socially sustainable development,” Director of Finance Teppo Koivisto writes in the review. “We believe that Finland’s strong credit outlook and commitment to sustainable development will support our bonds and serve all socially and environmentally responsible investors in the coming years.”
In 2018, the Republic of Finland successfully fulfilled its EUR 14.1 billion issuance programme. Due to redemptions of EUR 15.0 billion, the net borrowing amounted to EUR -0.9 billion. As a result, the central government debt stock was EUR 105.0 billion at year end, i.e. EUR 0.8 billion lower than at year end 2017.
“For 2019, the scale of our financing programme is similar. The overall gross borrowing requirement, including short-term funding, will be EUR 15.1 billion,” Koivisto says.
Towards a more sustainable budget
Guest authors in the review are Johanna von Knorring, Senior Ministerial Adviser at the Ministry of Finance, and Riku Huttunen, Director General of the Energy Department at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.
In her article, von Knorring writes about how Finland has incorporated sustainable development in its budget.
“Sustainable development is being brought into the budget as a completely new element in order to illustrate how taxpayers’ money is used towards implementing the United Nations’ sustainable development goals,” von Knorring says.
Huttunen focuses on Finland’s energy and climate policy. According to Huttunen, Finland has excellent potential to take active part in the move toward a low-carbon future.
“Our energy and climate policy is consistent and ambitious. By 2030, renewables will account for half of the energy consumption in Finland,” Huttunen says.
The Debt Management Annual Review 2018 is available online at annualreview2018.treasuryfinland.fi.
The review will be published in Finnish and Swedish in early April.