Government debt rises to €10.6 billion in 2024, reaching 47.4% of GDP

At the end of 2024, General Government debt amounted to €10,648.4 million, or 47.4 per cent of GDP, an increase of €817.7 million over 2023.

In 2024, the Financial Corporations sector held the biggest share of Government’s debt with 54.8 per cent, followed by Households, and Non-Profit Institutions Serving Households (NPISH) with 22.0 per cent. The share of the Rest of the World was 21.2 per cent, a decrease of 2.7 percentage points over the debt held in 2021. The Non-Financial Corporations sector held 2.0 per cent of the debt. Between 2021 and 2024, the Households and NPISH sector experienced the highest growth in the holding of Government’s debt, an increase of 6.4 percentage points. Conversely, the Financial Corporations’ holdings decreased by 4.0 percentage points.

Debt securities, which include Malta Government Stocks and Treasury Bills, are by far the preferred debt instrument for General Government, with €9,206.5 million, or 86.5 per cent, of the total debt in 2024. Other debt instruments are Loans and Currency, with 9.5 per cent and 4.0 per cent, respectively. The largest increase was recorded under Debt Securities, with an increase in Malta Government Stocks of €706.3 million, whereas the largest drop (€25.8 million) was observed in Currency for the Malta Government Retail Savings.

In 2024 all the debt owed by the General Government Sector is in national currency. The stock of debt in foreign currencies has decreased considerably over the years.

The apparent cost of debt, which is the interest rate applicable to the whole nominal debt, was 2.6 per cent in 2024, compared to 2.3 per cent in 2023. This measure of debt cost reflects the interest rates in effect at the time of issuance.

The market value of the total General Government debt in 2024 is estimated at €10,540.7 million, compared to the nominal value of €10,648.4 million, reflecting a decrease in the market value attributable to fluctuations in inflation and interest rates.

For the year under review, the time structure of the debt by initial maturity shows that €2,820.2 million, or 26.5 per cent, was issued with a maturity of 15 to 30 years. This was followed by debt issued for 1 to 5 years (21.9 per cent), 7 to 10 years (20.1 per cent), 10 to 15 years (10.4 per cent), 5 to 7 years (9.6 per cent), less than one year (7.7 per cent) and more than 30 years (3.8 per cent).

The average remaining maturity of total debt for 2024 was eight years four months, three months longer than in 2023. In 2024, the biggest share of debt by remaining maturity was in the 1 to 5 year category with €3,757.4 million, followed by the 7 to 10 year category (€1,929.3 million) and less than one year category (€1,370.4 million).

Government guarantees on borrowing amounted to €954.8 million in 2024, or 4.2 per cent of GDP, a decrease of €187.4 million over 2023. The majority of Government guarantees are issued towards the Non-Financial Corporations sector, which accounts for 66.1 per cent of the total guarantees. The Financial Corporations, Rest of the World and Households and NPISH sectors benefitted from 29.1, 4.1 and 0.7 per cent of Government guarantees, respectively. The Government guarantees are contingent liabilities, contingent on the actual call of the guarantee, and therefore these do not form part of General Government debt.