In 2021, the federal government will take out more loans to finance corona aid programs. This increases the total public budget to a record level of 1.1 trillion euros. One federal state is growing particularly strongly.
The financial assets of the German state rose to a new high in the second Corona year 2021. The stock of cash, deposits, securities, loans and other receivables totaled 1.1 trillion euros at the end of the year, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office. That is 6.1 percent or 63.2 billion euros more than in the first pandemic year 2020. At that time, financial assets rose to over 1.0 trillion euros for the first time due to new loans for corona aid. However, this is offset by public sector debt of around 2.3 trillion euros at the end of 2021. This in turn corresponds to a per capita debt of 27,922 euros and thus more than at the end of 2020 (26,140 euros).
The financial assets of the federal government increased in 2021 by 8.2 percent or 32.5 billion euros to 428.7 billion euros. “The reason for this development was the build-up of liquid funds to ensure the federal government’s ability to act in the implementation of aid packages and programs to deal with the economic consequences of the corona pandemic.” As in the previous year, this was largely due to increased borrowing, which then increased debt.
The financial assets of the federal states climbed by 22.6 billion euros to 294.3 billion euros last year. The development was very different. Lower Saxony recorded the highest percentage increase with plus 38.7 percent. “The development in Lower Saxony is particularly due to the strong rise in the price of Volkswagen shares, which significantly increased the value of the state of Lower Saxony’s holdings,” the statisticians explained. There was a percentage decline in financial assets above all in Bremen (-31 percent), where less cash collateral was deposited for derivative transactions.
The municipalities and associations of municipalities recorded an increase in financial assets of 3.9 percent to 223.5 billion euros, while the value of social security fell only minimally by 0.1 percent to 153.8 billion euros.