Public debt falls to €274.6 billion in July

  • ECO News
  • 1 September 2021

The decrease in public debt in July essentially "reflected debt securities redemptions," the Bank of Portugal explained this Wednesday.

Public debt, from a Maastricht perspective, fell by €2.9 billion in July to €274.6 billion, after reaching a new high in the previous month, according to the Bank of Portugal (BoP). “This decrease mainly reflected debt securities redemptions,” explains the institution led by Mário Centeno.

General government deposits fell by €1.6 billion in the seventh month of the year. Taking these deposits out of consideration, public debt decreased by €1.3 billion, to €254.7 billion, the BdP points out.

With the reduction verified in July, public debt returned to a value below €275 billion. It should be noted that, although the value reached in June was the highest ever, the ratio ended the second quarter at 132.8% of GDP, less than the 137.2% of GDP recorded in the first quarter.