Portugal’s economic indebtedness reaches new highs

The indebtedness of the non-financial sector of the Portuguese economy reached a record 742.8 billion euros in November 2020, up from 740 billion euros registered in October, according to data from the Bank of Portugal (BoP) released this Thursday.

Compared to October, this increase “was caused by the 1.4 billion euros raise in public sector indebtedness and by the 0.7 billion euros increase in private sector indebtedness.”

In the case of the public sector, the greatest increase was recorded in the general government (State, Social Security, among other entities) itself and not in public enterprises. Among private enterprises, the biggest rise was in SMEs, since large enterprises have even managed to reduce their indebtedness. For private individuals, the indebtedness for a house purchase stands out, and it continues to grow.

Compared to November last year, the economy’s indebtedness has already risen by 20.7 billion euros. The 742.8 billion debt of the Portuguese economy is divided between 338.7 billion euros in the public sector and 404.1 billion euros in the private sector.