Financial operations
If the City of Stockholm is to be able to carry out the initiatives and investment projects adopted by the City Council, effective financing operations are required.
All external loan financing and capital investments are managed centrally by the City of Stockholm’s internal bank. The City of Stockholm’s financing through borrowing is managed primarily through established bond and certificate programmes.
The City also has loan agreements with the Nordic Investment Bank, the European Investment Bank and the Council of Europe Development Bank. These loan agreements are outside the market programmes and have a total framework of SEK 29.3 billion between them.
The City of Stockholm’s borrowing takes place primarily through the issuing of municipal bonds and municipal certificates.
Credit rating and debt
Since 2007, the City of Stockholm has had the highest possible long-term and short-term credit ratings, AAA/A-1+ and K-1 respectively, from the international credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s.
The credit rating is updated every six months and was last confirmed in May 2025.
On 31 August 2025, the City of Stockholm had an external debt of SEK 85.3 billion. During 2025, the external debt increased by SEK 1.8 billion.
The municipal group’s finance policy defines guidelines and goals for identifying and managing the financial risks to which the City of Stockholm is exposed.
Green investments
The City invests in order to meet the needs of a growing population, and it does so within the framework of an ambitious environment programme that is well integrated into the City’s management and governance system. This is a way of ensuring that investments in the City are made in accordance with a climate-smart, sustainable city. This applies regardless of whether it concerns housing, public transport, climate adaptation measures or waste management.
Organisation
The Finance Division of the City Executive Office oversees debt financing across the Municipal Group of the City of Stockholm. All external funding and capital placements are centralised through the City's internal banking unit, which consolidates liquidity via a group-wide cash pool.
This structure enables economies of scale, reduces aggregated financing costs, and enhances the internal banking unit’s access to competitive funding in external capital markets.
Policy documents
The annual budget, adopted by the City Council, is the ultimate governing document for all the City’s operations. Completing policy documents establish and clarify how the City’s operations should operate and how they should be run.
Most of these, including the finance policy mentioned below, are available in Swedish only.
The City of Stockholm’s financial operations are governed by a general finance policy, which is adopted by the City Council.
The goals of the City’s financial activities, which are set out in the finance policy, are to
- meet the municipal group’s need for capital
- minimise borrowing costs within the framework of the finance policy
- make use of economies of scale and benefit from a combined cash flow.