The Government advances to this year the objective of reducing the debt of 110% of the GDP
The debt of all public administrations rose in the second quarter to the historical maximum of 1,569 trillion euros in absolute terms, but its weight on GDP moderated to 111.2%, according to data from the Bank of Spain published this Friday.
In the last year, public debt has increased by 92,551 million euros, which represents a rise of 6.3%, although its weight in GDP has fallen from 114.5% in the second quarter of 2022, to 111. 2% between April and June of this year, given the greater increase in economic activity.
Compared to the previous quarter, the debt has increased by 33,358 million euros, which represents a rise of 2.2%, in a context still marked by the impact of the war in Ukraine and the rise in prices. However, the weight in GDP has remained at 111.2% in both quarters.
The recent upward revision of the Gross Domestic Product for the years 2021 and 2022 by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) has modified the debt estimates of the Bank of Spain and has led to a greater than expected reduction in the public debt ratio on GDP.
As set by the Executive in the Stability Program in April, the forecast for the debt in 2023 was 111.9% of GDP and the year in which it was estimated that it would fall below 110% (109.1%) was in 2024. But after the update by the INE, the acting Government has brought forward the objective of dropping below 110% to 2023.
As highlighted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, good fiscal management and the strong recovery of the Spanish economy that continues in 2023 will allow a strong reduction in the debt/GDP ratio this year, greater than expected, and close below of that objective of 110% of GDP.
“In an international context of uncertainty, Spain maintains the confidence of investors, with solid and diversified demand,” the Ministry of Economic Affairs highlighted.
THE CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION ACCUMULATES THE THICKNESS OF DEBT
By administration, public debt increased in all between the months of April and June of this year. Thus, the debt of the Central Administration rose in the second quarter to 1,429 billion euros, 7.1% more than a year ago, which represents 100.7% of GDP, compared to 102.9% the previous year. .
For its part, the debt of the autonomous communities grew by 3.4% year-on-year, up to 327,346 million euros in the second quarter, equivalent to 23.2% of GDP – compared to 24.6% last year – .
In the case of local corporations, their debt stood at 23,752 million in the second quarter of 2023, which represents an increase of 0.8% compared to the same period in 2022. The ratio over GDP was slightly reduced to 1, 7%, compared to 1.8% last year.
Finally, the debt of the Social Security administrations climbed to 106,174 million euros between April and June, with an increase of 7% in one year. The GDP ratio drops slightly from 7.7% a year ago to 7.5% in 2023.
The increase in absolute values is due to the loans granted by the State to the General Treasury of Social Security to finance a significant part of its budget imbalance. These loans, as they are financial operations between subsectors, do not affect the total debt of the Public Administrations sector.
VALENCIAN COMMUNITY AND CATALONIA, AMONG THE MOST INDEBT ACCOUNTS
Within the autonomous communities, the debt rose in absolute terms in all regions compared to the second quarter of last year, except in Aragon, the Balearic Islands, Cantabria, Navarra and the Basque Country.
Catalonia (86,800 million euros), the Valencian Community (57,246 million), Andalusia (38,018 million) and Madrid (37,658 million) continue to concentrate two thirds of all debt in the hands of the autonomous governments in the second quarter, although it is also due to a population issue.
Below are the communities of Castilla-La Mancha (15,839 million), Castilla y León (13,506 million), Galicia (12,333 million), Murcia (12,072 million) and the Basque Country (10,916 million).
Closing the table are Aragón (9,092 million), Balearic Islands (8,981 million), Canary Islands (7,049 million), Extremadura (5,161 million), Asturias (4,376 million), Cantabria (3,363 million), Navarra (3,175 million) and La Rioja (1,760 millions).
However, in percentage of GDP, the Valencian Community, with a debt that represents 43.5%, continues to lead the most indebted regions in relation to its wealth, followed by Catalonia, with 32.4% and Castilla-La Mancha (32.1%) and Region of Murcia (32.1%).
They are followed by the Balearic Islands (25.3%), Extremadura (22%), Cantabria (20.8%), Aragon (20.5%), Andalusia (20.2%), Castilla y León (19.9%), La Rioja (17.5%), Galicia (16.7%), Asturias (16%), Canary Islands (14.1%), Community of Madrid (13.7%), Navarra (13.3%) and Country Basque (13%).
MADRID AND BARCELONA THE MOST INDEBT CITY COUNCIL
By size of municipalities, those with more than 300,000 inhabitants accumulated a debt of 5,141 million euros between April and June, 157 million more than in the same quarter of the previous year.
Specifically, Madrid, with a debt of 1,886 million euros, continues to lead the most indebted local corporations, followed by Barcelona, with 1,155 million, and Zaragoza, with 616 million.
