During the war years, as a direct and indirect result of the occupation, a huge financial deficit on Government account had accumulated. This had been financed to a relatively small extent by long-term borrowing (via the issue of semi-obligatory war loans) but mainly by the placement of Treasury paper with the banking system. When at the end of 1945 the amount of the Central Government’s domestic debt was assessed it was put at 22.4 billion guilders, against 3.7 billion guilders at the end of 1938. The consolidated debt had increased from 3.2 billion guilders to 5.8 billion guilders, the floating debt (net) from 0.5 billion guilders to 16.1 billion guilders. In this latter figure were included, apart from Treasury paper in circulation and with the central bank, other short-term obligations — mostly deposits of institutional investors in anticipation of subscriptions to consolidation loans to be issued (so-called pre-subscription accounts) and credit balances on current account of public and semi-public institutions held with the Treasury — as well as estimated unpaid claims on the Government on account of war damages (see Table V).