Public debt breaks a new record until March and exceeds the target set for the whole year

2023-06-15 20:10:12

The debt of all public administrations climbed in the first trimester to the all-time high of 1,535 trillion euros, but moderated to 113% of GDP, according to data from the Bank of Spain published this Thursday. In the last year the public debt has increased by 81,446 million euros, which represents a rebound of 5.6%, although its weight in GDP has fallen from 117.4% in the first quarter of 2022, to 113% between January and March of this year. This data exceeds, however, the Government’s target for the whole year (111.9%), in accordance with the provisions of the Executive in the 2023-2026 Stability Plan sent to Brussels at the end of April. According to the projections of the Executive, the debt will maintain its reduction path after the decrease of five points last year, reaching 111.9% of GDP in 2023 and already falling from 110% (109.1%) in 2024. In 2025, the forecast is for it to fall to 107.9% and in 2026 to 106.8%.

Compared to the end of the year, the debt has increased by 32,761 million euros, representing a rise of 2.2%, in a context still marked by the crisis in Ukraine and the rise in prices. However, the weight in GDP has followed a downward path and has fallen from 113.2% to 113%.

By administrations, public debt increased in all between the months of January and March of this year. Thus, the State debt rose in the first quarter to 1,387,761 million euros, 6.2% more than a year ago, which represents 102.1% of GDP. For its part, the debt of the autonomous communities grew by 4% year-on-year, to 322,211 million euros in the first quarter, equivalent to 23.7% of GDP. In the case of local corporations, their debt stood at 23,032 million compared to the first quarter of 2021, which represents an increase of 2.6%. The GDP ratio remained at 1.7%. Finally, the debt of the Social Security administrations climbed to 106,172 million euros between January and March, with a rise of 7% in one year. The GDP ratio falls slightly from 8% a year ago to 7.8% in 2023.

Territories

within the autonomous communitiesDebt rose in absolute terms in all regions compared to the first quarter of the previous year, except in the Principality of Asturias and the Region of Murcia. Catalonia (85,456 million euros), the Valencian Community (55,439 million), Madrid (37,495 million) and Andalusia (36,744 million) continue to concentrate two thirds of all debt in the hands of the autonomous governments in the first quarter, although it is also due to a population issue. Next are the communities of Castilla-La Mancha (15,574 million), Castilla y León (13,272 million), Galicia (12,608 million), the Basque Country (11,428 million) and Murcia (11,506 million). The table is closed by Aragon (9,109 million), the Balearic Islands (8,919 million), the Canary Islands (7,178 million), Extremadura (5,140 million), Asturias (4,212 million), Cantabria (3,375 million), Navarra (3,102 million) and La Rioja (1,652 millions). However, as a percentage of GDP, the Valencian Community, with a debt that represents 43.7%, continues to lead the most indebted regions in relation to its wealth, followed by Catalonia, with 33.1% and Castilla-La Mancha (32.7%) and Region of Murcia (31.7%).

By size of municipalities, those with more than 300,000 inhabitants accumulated a debt of 5,187 million euros until March, 244 million more than in the same quarter of the previous year. Specifically, Madrid, with a debt of 1,920 million euros, continues to lead the most indebted local corporations, followed by Barcelona, ​​with 1,118 million, and Zaragoza, with 623 million.