Guidelines for central government debt management in 2026
Published
The Government has adopted guidelines for the Swedish National Debt Office’s central government debt management in 2026. The decision does not involve any changes to the central government debt composition or term to maturity. However, the guidelines for next year clarify how the management of central government debt should be evaluated.
In the guideline decision for 2026, the Government has revised and clarified how the evaluation of central government debt management is to be conducted in order to ensure clearer conclusions. This includes conclusions concerning whether guideline decisions have minimised the long-term cost of central government debt in relation to risk. The clarifications stem from the assessment in the 2025 guidelines that extensive review of the bases for evaluation is necessary to ensure clearer conclusions.
The central government debt will continue to be steered towards:
- phasing out foreign currency debt (i.e. foreign currency exposure), with a target value of zero from 1 January 2027;
- successively reducing inflation-linked krona debt to a target level of around SEK 80 billion by the end of 2029;
- nominal krona debt constituting the remainder of national debt, after inflation-linked krona debt and foreign currency debt; and
- steering the maturity (in terms of average time to refixing) of the central government debt towards 3.5 to 6 years.
Central government debt management
The Government’s guideline decision is based on the national debt objective approved by the Riksdag. The objective is to manage central government debt so as to minimise long-term costs, while taking into account the risk associated with its management. The debt is to be managed within the framework of monetary policy requirements.
The Government and the Swedish National Debt Office share responsibility for achieving this objective. The Government determines the overall risk level in annual guideline decisions, while the Swedish National Debt Office is responsible for ensuring that borrowing and management remain within the framework of the guideline decisions and in line with the objective. The annual guideline decisions are based in part on the guidelines proposed by the Swedish National Debt Office.
A progress report is presented to the Riksdag every two years in the form of a written communication. The last report was presented to the Riksdag on 18 April 2024.
Press contact
Political Adviser to Minister for Financial Markets Niklas Wykman
Phone (switchboard) +46 8 405 10 00
Mobile +46 76 149 67 49
email to Oliver Novak
