MuniFin Annual Report 2023

MuniFin’s business operations remained strong in 2023, propelled especially by the housing sector’s high demand for financing late in the year. In municipalities, 2023 was the first year when municipalities were no longer responsible for organising healthcare, social welfare and rescue services. Municipal finances were supported by temporary tax benefits stemming from the health and social services reform, which meant that municipalities experienced less demand for financing. Municipalities had also prepared relatively well for the general rise in interest rate levels through interest rate hedging and longterm interest rates.

Hospital districts – the predecessors of the new wellbeing services counties – had proactively prepared for their financing needs by withdrawing financing in advance, but wellbeing services counties’ demand for financing nevertheless increased towards the end of the year.

In 2023, the Municipal Guarantee Board’s limit for MuniFin’s long-term loans to wellbeing services counties was EUR 400 million. Because the counties’ government-authorised borrowing powers in 2023 were considerably higher than this, their financing needs were also higher than the limit imposed on us. MuniFin reached the EUR 400 million limit before the end of the year and could no longer fulfil counties’ financing requests for 2023 after that.

New long-term customer financing remained almost on the same level as in 2022. In total, long-term customer financing at year-end amounted to EUR 32.0 billion at the end of 2023.

2023 key figures

32

EUR bn

Long-term customer financing per Dec 31,2023

10.1

EUR bn

New long-term funding per Dec 31,2023

7.0

EUR bn

Outstanding amount of sustainable finance per Dec 31,2023

6.53

Willingness to recommend (scale 1–7)

Esa Kallio: CEO’s review

Operations remained stable

“The year 2023 was the fourth consecutive year marked by instability. The rising geopolitical tensions and market volatility did not affect MuniFin’s performance, and we were able to successfully carry out our core mandate of ensuring the availability of affordable long-term financing for our customers.”
Esa Kallio istuu sohvalla Kuntarahoituksen toimistolla.

Esa Kallio: CEO’s review

Operations remained stable

“The year 2023 was the fourth consecutive year marked by instability. The rising geopolitical tensions and market volatility did not affect MuniFin’s performance, and we were able to successfully carry out our core mandate of ensuring the availability of affordable long-term financing for our customers.”

Business operations

Sustainable finance products keep increasing in popularity

We offer our customers green and social finance for their sustainable investments. The demand for our green finance remained exceptionally high. At the end of 2023, there were 360 green projects with outstanding financing, and our green finance totalled EUR 4.8 billion.

Social finance also continued to gain more demand. At the end of 2023, there were 117 social projects with outstanding financing, and our social finance totalled EUR 2.2 billion.
Sähköauto latauspisteessä

Business operations

Sustainable finance products keep increasing in popularity

We offer our customers green and social finance for their sustainable investments. The demand for our green finance remained exceptionally high. At the end of 2023, there were 360 green projects with outstanding financing, and our green finance totalled EUR 4.8 billion.

Social finance also continued to gain more demand. At the end of 2023, there were 117 social projects with outstanding financing, and our social finance totalled EUR 2.2 billion.

Number of green and social finance projects in 2019–2023

Through our green and social finance, we want to encourage our customers to make environmentally and socially sustainable investments.

The demand for our green finance remained exceptionally high. At the end of 2023, there were 360 green projects with outstanding financing, and our green finance totalled EUR 4.8 billion.

Social finance also continued to gain more demand. At the end of 2023, there were 117 social projects with outstanding financing, and our social finance totalled EUR 2.2 billion.

Henkilö kalastamassa.

MuniFin's sustainability agenda

Enabler of sustainable welfare in society

Our updated strategy puts sustainability even more front and centre in our operations.

Our sustainability work is now guided by the sustainability agenda we published in October 2023. It also crystallises our role and long-term sustainability goals.

Funding operations highly successful despite market turmoil

Capital markets were highly unstable in 2023. The year was marked by uncertainty resulting from geopolitical confrontations and central bank actions to curb inflation. In early 2023, our funding operations were complicated by the rapidly growing inflation, global banking sector problems and swiftly rising interest rates. In this fast-changing environment, the careful timing of transactions was particularly critical. Towards the spring, the actions of the central banks became more transparent, inflation started to subside, and markets regained confidence during the summer and early autumn. In the autumn, however, the deteriorating overall economic outlook brought on new challenges. Late in the year, margins grew wider and the situation in the euro market became particularly difficult.

Once again, our funding strategy proved effective despite the unstable market environment. We retained strong access to capital markets throughout the year, and the average cost of our funding remained at a low level. We expanded our funding programme somewhat when our customers required more financing than we had initially anticipated.

In total, we made 87 long-term funding arrangements in 12 different currencies. Our new long-term funding in 2023 totalled EUR 10.1 billion.

New long-term funding by region in 2023

Our funding strategy relies on diversifying our funding sources to ensure that our customers have access to financing in all market conditions.

Employee experience efforts yielded great results

At the end of 2023, MuniFin had 185 employees working in various specialist positions. Good employee experience is an important goal for us. We measure employee satisfaction through an anonymous survey conducted annually by an independent research company and follow up with a development plan based on the results, focusing on the most important areas of development identified together. Our employees have been closely involved in planning and implementing measures to improve our employee experience.

Our employee experience has developed positively. In March 2023, we were ranked among Finland’s most inspiring workplaces based on the results of our 2022 employee experience survey. Our 2023 survey results not only exceeded the average for Finnish expert organisations, but also showed an improvement over the previous year.

We invest in skills development. In updating our strategy, we established skills development as one of our strategic cornerstones.

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MuniFin Annual Report 2022

The past year was again marked by general economic uncertainty, even after the exceptional uncertainty of the COVID years. In these uncertain times, our role in ensuring our customers’ operations and acting as our customers’ trusted partner has grown even more important.

In 2022, the demand for our financing was slightly lower than expected. In the municipal sector, customers had less demand for finance because their income was higher than expected and tax cuts related to the social and health services reform will not be fully implemented until 2024.. In the housing sector, the materials shortage and the rising cost of raw materials slowed down construction projects. Hospital districts and joint municipal authorities sought funding more actively than we had expected.

Our funding remained stable even under the exceptional circumstances of 2022, and we continued to enjoy strong investor demand. The economic and geopolitical upheaval of 2022 has not affected MuniFin’s profitability. As expected, our result was lower in 2022 than in 2021 mostly due to planned changes in pricing.

CEO’s review

As the world shook, MuniFin’s role grew even more important

“Finland’s geopolitical and geoeconomical position upended in early 2022. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine intensified the economic and social uncertainties of the COVID pandemic fallout, pushed inflation into a gallop and quickly escalated interest hikes. In this turmoil, MuniFin’s role in securing Finland’s security of supply grew even stronger.”

CEO’s review

As the world shook, MuniFin’s role grew even more important

“Finland’s geopolitical and geoeconomical position upended in early 2022. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine intensified the economic and social uncertainties of the COVID pandemic fallout, pushed inflation into a gallop and quickly escalated interest hikes. In this turmoil, MuniFin’s role in securing Finland’s security of supply grew even stronger.”

MuniFin’s operations continued steadily

Finland’s geopolitical and geoeconomical position upended in early 2022 as Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine intensified economic and social uncertainties. In this turmoil, MuniFin’s role as a key player in securing Finland’s security of supply grew even stronger. Watch the video for a brief summary of the year 2022.

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MuniFin Annual Report 2021

Finland’s economic and employment situation exceeded expectations in 2021 and reached a surprisingly good level.

The central government’s COVID-19 support package ensured that municipalities have not had to shoulder the negative economic effects of the pandemic. As a result, the municipal sector’s demand for financing was lower than expected in 2021. The demand for state-subsidised housing finance grew moderately, as expected.


New long-term financing totalled EUR 3.7 billion in 2021. The Group’s net operating profit excluding unrealised fair value changes amounted to EUR 213 million and it increased by 8.0%.

More customer benefits and support amidst change

Finland’s economy grew more than expected in 2021. The central government’s COVID-19 support temporarily improved the financial situation in municipalities, reducing their demand for financing. Our green and social finance continued growing. Watch the video for a brief summary of the year 2021.

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MuniFin Annual Report 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic strained the economy in 2020, but the worst of the predicted crisis scenarios did not materialise.

The year was unusual in many ways, substantially increasing the demand for MuniFin’s services. Our funding operations were highly successful despite the challenging market situation.

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MuniFin Annual Report 2019

In 2019, the Finnish economy continued surprisingly strong despite the slump in global trade. Demand for financing exceeded expectations. MuniFin once again succeeded very well in its funding. We continued to make investments in digitalisation.

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MuniFin Annual Report 2018

2018 was a good year for MuniFin and its customers. Demand for financing was growing and our performance in funding was excellent.

With our revamped customer strategy we aim to provide even more suitable solutions.

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MuniFin Annual Report 2017

In many respects, 2017 was a good year for MuniFin and its customers. The Finnish economy was on a steep growth path: municipalities received more tax income than expected, which made their cas position stronger than anticipated.

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MuniFin Annual Report 2016

The interest in MuniFin’s financial services remained high in 2016. The total of loans withdrawn increased slightly year on year, and MuniFin’s market share grew.

New loans issued stood at EUR 2.9 billion, and the loan portfolio increased to EUR 20.9 billion.

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MuniFin Annual Report 2015

MuniFin made excellent progress in 2015, despite continuous changes. 2015 will go down in MuniFin’s history as a year of success amid great pressure for change.

MuniFin was defined a nationally significant credit institution. From the beginning of 2016, the company has been under the direct supervision of the European Central Bank.

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MuniFin Annual Report 2014

The total amount of lending granted by the company grew by 8 per cent to EUR 19.2 billion. EUR 2.8 billion in new loans were withdrawn during the year.

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