CARLOS SEGOVIA Madrid

Madrid

Updated Friday, February 16, 2024-11:58

Spain's public debt continues to increase to stratospheric levels that accentuate the vulnerability of the fourth euro economy to any future crisis.

During 2023 it grew again by another 71,878 million euros, 4.8% more,

and closes the year at a new record of 1.57 million, according to data released this Friday by the Bank of Spain.

The Minister of Economy,

Carlos Body,

has stressed, however, that, thanks to the economic growth registered in 2023, although public debt continues to increase, it weighs less on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). According to the Bank of Spain,

it closed at 107.7% of GDP. one of the highest in the Eurozone, but 3.9 points lower than the 2022 level, when it still exceeded 110%.

This percentage as of December 2023 means meeting, according to Corps, the objective set out in the Budget Plan and even improved by four tenths.

By Administration,

the central office is the one that increased debt the most

. "The balance of the State debt rose to 1,414 billion euros, with a year-on-year increase of 6.2%, while for the other units of the Central Administration the balance was 40,000 million, which represents a decrease of 9 .1% compared to the previous year's figure," says the Bank of Spain. These so-called "other units" include the so-called

bad bank

Sareb.

For its part, "

the debt balance of the Social Security Administrations stood at 116,000 million, 9.4% more than a year before

. "

Last year,

José Luis Escrivá was still the head of the Ministry and now he has been replaced by Elma Saiz

with a considerable challenge of financial consolidation, because, despite all the reforms, "this increase is due to the loans granted by the State to the General Treasury of Social Security to finance its budget imbalance," says the Bank of Spain.

The behavior of the other territorial administrations was proportionally more austere

. "The debt of the Autonomous Communities grew to 325,000 million euros in December 2023, with a year-on-year variation of 2.6%, while the debt of the Local Corporations stood at 23,000 million euros in this month, which This is 1.1% more than the balance recorded in December 2022.

And in 2024? "The ratio of public debt to GDP will continue its downward path this year, with the forecast to reduce to 106.3%." states the Minister of Economy in his statement. That is, a more modest effort than in 2023 as the debt continues to grow in an environment of greater economic slowdown.

Nadia Calviño

's successor

is. However, optimistic about the placement of new debt in the markets to continue financing the State: "

The Public Treasury maintained a solid position in the market in 2023

, in a context marked by the increase in interest rates and the completion of net purchases by the European Central Bank".