State debt +4.7% in December

The Portuguese State’s direct debt increased €12.9Bn in December 2022, to almost €287Bn in a new record.

The Portuguese State has never been so indebted in terms of direct debt, and December was the worst month since September 2011 when the then government of José Sócrates had to call in the troika of International lenders. (ECB, IMF, EC)
The data was released by Portugal’s treasury and debt agency, IGCP in its monthly bulletin for January. It showed that despite the government having succeeded in reducing the debt burden between January and November at an average monthly rate of 1.5%, the sharp increase of 4.7% seen in December completely wiped out all of its efforts throughout 2022.
The extraordinary increase in the State’s direct debt in December is explained by a robust issue of National Savings Bonds at €18Bn and the issue of €16.6Bn in Special Short-Term Sovereigns to enable public entities to enter 2023 clear, without the need to pay out maturities owing from 2022.
Direct debt is the total amount of general obligation debt, including nots and short-term financing issued by a State.