The report presents the conclusions of Danmarks Nationalbank’s oversight of the Danish payments infrastructure in 2021. The core payment and settlement systems and the key payment solutions extensively comply with international standards for safety and efficiency. Work is being done across the sector to strengthen cyber resilience. Changes in the risk outlook, including new derived risks, mean that this resilience must be continuously developed.

Danmarks Nationalbank posted a profit of kr. 194 million in 2021 against a profit of kr. 1,616 million in 2020. Gold stock and equity exposure contributed significantly to the profit for the year.

A government budget surplus led to a decrease in central government debt by approximately kr. 100 billion to kr. 438 billion at the end of 2021, equal to just under 18 per cent of GDP. Central government debt, as a share of GDP, has thus fallen to its lowest level since 2009. Again in 2021, borrowing flexibility was crucial to the central government. The flexibility made it possible gradually to reduce issuances by the central government, in line with improvements in government finances.

Danmarks Nationalbank has assessed Kronos2 against international principles for safe and efficient payment systems. Kronos2 is used for settlement of payments between banks etc. and is a central payment system in the Danish payments infrastructure. The main conclusion of the assessment is that Kronos2 to a large extent complies with the principles. A few areas with potential for improvement have been identified.