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Borrowing and state budget debt management

In the state budget, which is adopted by the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia for each individual year, expenditure may exceed revenue, which means that borrowing is needed in order to finance the deficit. Borrowing is also used to pay off the principal of the debt which falls due for payment in such a year if it cannot be repaid from the budget surplus or other revenue from state-owned assets.

The state budget debt may be managed through the buyback and exchange of the existing debt and through transactions by means of which the borrowing currency and interest rate type are changed. The Ministry of Finance manages the debt maturity structure by selecting the appropriate maturity for the debt issued in terms of refinancing risk. It is also responsible for the timely repayment of the principal and interest on the government debt at maturity.

To ensure the financing of the state budget, the Ministry of Finance prepares annual budget financing programmes; debt financing and management also entails managing the liquidity of government securities, establishing and maintaining contact with investors in government securities, cooperating with credit rating agencies in producing credit risk assessments of the Republic of Slovenia, making analyses and calculations for executing government debt management transactions, and repaying the principal and interest on government debt.

The debt of the Republic of Slovenia

Information on the general government debt and, more specifically, the state budget debt by instrument, currency, interest rate type and repayment schedule.

General government debt, in EUR million

The general government debt includes the central government debt (state budget debt), the debt at the local level (municipalities) and the debt of social security funds (the pension and disability insurance fund and the health insurance fund).

General Government Debt 31 December 2018 31 December 2019 31 December 2020 31 December 2021 31 December 2022
EUR million 32,246 31,752 37,424 38,879 41,242
% GDP 70.3 65.4 79.6 74.4 72.3
GDP, EUR million 45,876 48,582 47,045 52,279 57,038

State budget debt by instrument, in EUR million

The criteria for classifying debt as internal or external debt derive from the national methodology, which is consistent with the methodology of the International Monetary Fund (Government Finance Statistics 2014). For loans, the criterion for classifying debt as internal or external is the residence of the creditor. For securities, the classification criterion is the place of registration with the Central Securities Clearing System; accordingly, securities registered with the Central Securities Clearing System in Slovenia (KDD – the Central Securities Clearing Corporation) are considered internal debt, regardless of the creditor's residence, while securities registered with the Central Securities Clearing System outside Slovenia (Euroclear, Clearstream) are considered external debt, regardless of the creditor's residence.

Instrument 30 September 2023 31 October 2023
Internal debt 36,621.3 36,619.3
Loans 225.0 225.0
Bonds 36,396.3 36,394.3
External debt 3,125.4 3,125.4
Loans 1,636.0 1,636.0
Bonds 1,489.4 1,489.4
Total 39,746.7 39,744.7

State budget debt by currency

Currency 30 September 2023 31 October 2023
EUR 96.2% 96.2%
USD 3.7% 3.7%
Other 0.1% 0.1%

State budget debt by interest rate type

Interest rate type 30 September 2023 31 October 2023
Fixed 99.1% 99.1%
Variable 0.6% 0.6%
Indexed 0.3% 0.3%

State budget debt repayment schedule by year as at 31 October 2023, in EUR million

Debt service 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027
Principal 1,484.1 2,468.7 2,388.5 2,555.1 3,123.4
Internal debt 1,366.4 1,888.1 2,165.1 2,531.8 3,100.0
External debt 117.7 580.6 223.4 23.4 23.4
Interest 679.5 722.8 627.2 576.4 498.5
Internal debt 641.0 667.6 581.1 530.8 453.4
External debt 38.5 55.2 46.1 45.6 45.2
Total debt service 2,163.6 3,191.4 3,015.7 3,131.6 3,621.9

State budget debt repayment schedule by quarter, 2023, as at 31 October 2023, in EUR million

Debt service Q1 2023 Q2 2023 Q3 2023 Q4 2023 2023
Principal 1,276.0 107.7 36.9 63.5 1,484.1
Internal debt 1,276.0 1.7 36.9 51.8 1,366.4
External debt 0.0 106.0 0.0 11.7 117.7
Interest 365.6 12.1 211.1 90.8 679.5
Internal debt 354.5 6.3 193.8 86.5 641.0
External debt 11.1 5.8 17.3 4.3 38.5
Total debt service 1,641.5 119.8 248.0 154.3 2,163.6

Financing programme for the execution of the budget of the Republic of Slovenia

The financing programme is the basic operational document for financing the execution of the state budget and government debt management transactions. It defines the structure of instruments for financing the state budget and managing government debt, taking into account the optimisation of the currency, maturity and interest structure of the debt and the management of its portfolio risks. The applicable financing programme adopted by the Government of the Republic of Slovenia always relates to the latest adopted state budget.

Borrowing through the issuance of the Republic of Slovenia’s government bonds and treasury bills is the primary state budget financing instrument. In accordance with each financing programme, other financing instruments may be used to finance the state budget.

Bonds

A bond is a book-entry, registered and transferable debt security with a maturity of more than one year. For investors, bonds are a form of financial investment on the basis of which they receive predetermined interest payments for the money lent (coupon). Benchmark bonds are issued by the Republic of Slovenia in accordance with the Annual Budget Financing Programme of the Republic of Slovenia. The Ministry of Finance defines the maturity of bonds and the dynamics of their issuance subject to market conditions, in accordance with the strategic and operational objectives set out in the financing programme, taking into account the maturity structure of the existing state budget debt. In the European market and other markets, Slovenian government bonds are issued by syndication. Bonds are not issued via auctions.

Treasury bills

Treasury bills are book-entry, serial, registered and transferable securities with maturity terms of three, six, twelve and eighteen months. They are issued in denominations of EUR 1.000 and the face value of each issue depends on the decision of the issuer.

Treasury bills are discounted securities: when treasury bills are issued, the investor pays a discounted amount, and when the bill matures, the issuer pays the face value of the treasury bills. Interest is calculated using a simple interest calculation and the decursive interest calculation method, taking into account the actual number of days to maturity and using 360 days in a year.

The primary issuance of treasury bills takes place through auction. At an auction, investors or primary dealers, respectively, submit bids for the purchase of treasury bills, which determines the nominal relative interest rate to be paid on the issue offered. In auctions, uniform pricing is used, meaning that bids at the uniform price or above are accepted at the uniform price (bids at the uniform price may be partly accepted), and bids below the uniform price are not accepted.

Holders of treasury bills may be legal or natural persons who bid through primary dealers for treasury bills. The settlement of treasury bills takes place two working days after the auction.

Treasury bills are money market instruments listed on the Ljubljana Stock Exchange.

For more information on treasury bills, please read the offering circular or contact:

Planned issues of treasury bills in 2023

The indicative amount of an individual auction will be published in the invitation and the press release five working days before the auction on the Ministry of Finance website.

Three-month treasury bill

T-Bill Designation Auction Date Settlement Date Maturity Date Number of days
TZ203 10 January 2023 12 January 2023 13 April 2023 91
TZ204 14 February 2023 16 February 2023 18 May 2023 91
TZ205 14 March 2023 16 March 2023 15 June 2023 91
TZ206 11 April 2023 13 April 2023 13 July 2023 91
TZ207 9 May 2023 11 May 2023 10 August 2023 91
TZ208 13 June 2023 15 June 2023 14 September 2023 91
TZ209 11 July 2023 13 July 2023 12 October 2023 91
TZ210 12 September 2023 14 September 2023 14 December 2023 91
TZ211 10 October 2023 12 October 2023 28 December 2023 77
TZ212 Cancelled 16 November 2023 15 February 2024 91

Six-month treasury bills

T-Bill Designation Auction Date Settlement Date Maturity Date Number of days
SZ132 10 January 2023 12 January 2023 13 July 2023 182
SZ133 14 February 2023 16 February 2023 17 August 2023 182
SZ134 14 March 2023 16 March 2023 14 September 2023 182
SZ135 11 April 2023 13 April 2023 12 October 2023 182
SZ136 9 May 2023 11 May 2023 9 November 2023 182
SZ137 13 June 2023 15 June 2023 14 December 2023 182
SZ138 11 July 2023 13 July 2023 11 January 2024 182
SZ139 12 September 2023 14 September 2023 14 March 2024 182
SZ140 10 October 2023 12 October 2023 11 April 2024 182
SZ141 Cancelled 16 November 2023 16 May 2024 182

Twelve-month treasury bills

T-Bill Designation Auction Date Settlement Date Maturity Date Number of days
DZ100 10 January 2023 12 January 2023 11 January 2024 364
DZ101 14 February 2023 16 February 2023 15 February 2024 364
DZ102 14 March 2023 16 March 2023 14 March 2024 364
DZ103 9 May 2023 11 May 2023 9 May 2024 364
DZ104 13 June 2023 15 June 2023 13 June 2024 364
DZ105 11 July 2023 13 July 2023 11 July 2024 364
DZ106 12 September 2023 14 September 2023 12 September 2024 364
DZ107 Cancelled 16 November 2023 14 November 2024 364

Eighteen-month treasury bills

T-Bill Designation Auction Date Settlement Date Maturity Date Number of days
OZ18 11 April 2023 13 April 2023 10 October 2024 546
OZ19 10 October 2023 12 October 2023 10 April 2025 546

Primary dealers of government securities

A primary dealer is a financial institution that is in a contractual relationship with the Republic of Slovenia. Among other things, a primary dealer acts as an agent in the sale of bonds and treasury bills to final investors and ensures their liquidity in the secondary market.

Primary dealers of Republic of Slovenia bonds

Primary dealers of Republic of Slovenia treasury bills

Trading in government securities

Issued government securities are traded in a variety of secondary securities markets.

Republic of Slovenia bonds registered with the Central Securities Clearing Corporation (KDD) and Republic of Slovenia treasury bills are listed on the Ljubljana Stock Exchange.

Republic of Slovenia bonds registered with Euroclear or Clearstream are listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.

Benchmark bonds denominated in EUR are also traded on MTS Slovenia.

In the settlement of transactions in the secondary market, Slovenia supports T + 2 as the standard settlement period for OTC secondary market transactions in transferable government securities.

A statement by the Government of the Republic of Slovenia on the selection of a home Member State regarding the disclosure of regulated information in connection with the issuances of securities:

In accordance with Article 66 of the Market in Financial Instruments Act, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia hereby declares that it has selected the Republic of Slovenia as the home Member State and the Securities Market Agency as the competent authority regarding the disclosure of regulated information in connection with the issuances of securities.