Spain public debt reaches 77.4 pct

 

Levels of public debt in Spain reached 77.4% of GDP - around €818 billion - during Q3, according to a report by the Bank of Spain yesterday.

Debt increased by 15.32% - or €109 billion - between September 2011 and September 2012.

When compared to Q2 of 2012, Q3 was up by 1.5% - €13 billion.

The increase seen in Q3 was largely down to the increase in Central Government debt, which rose from 64.3% of GDP in Q2 to 65.9% in Q3.

Overall the 17 Regions actually managed to reduce their combined levels of debt.

Regional debt stood at 15.9% of GDP at about €167 billion, although it had previously increased by about €26 billion during the first three-quarters of 2012.

Meanwhile, the debt of local governments was reduced to 4.1% of GDP in Q3 of the year, decreasing by 0.2% since Q2 when it was 4.3%.

Spain's public debt has been affected by the debt of Spain's banks, many of which have needed state assistance through the Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring (FROB), as well as aid from the EU.

PM Mariano Rajoy has long argued for banking union, saying it woud be positive for a direct recapitalization of Spain's banks, which would not increase the country's debt, although the EU summit this week saw little progress in this direction.