Spain's public debt reaches 84.1 pct of GDP in 2012

MADRID - The Spanish public debt set a record high in 2012 as it reached 84.1 percent of Spain's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to data published this Friday by the Bank of Spain.

In annual terms, Spain's debt increased by 20.1 percent from 2011 to 884.416 billion euros (1,154.854 billion U.S. dollars) in 2012, while increasing by 6.7 percent from the third quarter of 2012 when Spain's public debt had reached 77.4 percent of the country's GDP.

The increase registered in 2012 includes the bailout of 37 billion euros (48 billion U.S. dollars) Spain asked the European Union (EU) to recapitalize its banking system. The loan increased the country's debt significantly, although below predictions made by the Spanish government and the European Commission (EC).

The Spanish government predicted the country's debt would reach 85.3 percent of GDP in 2012, while the EC forecasted it would reach 88.4 percent of GDP.

The debt of Spain's central administration suffered the highest increase, from 622.298 billion euros (812.686 billion U.S. dollars) in 2011 to 760.262 billion euros (992.859 billion U.S. dollars) in 2012 which represents 72.3 percent of Spain's GDP.

Local government's debt stood at 41.967 billion euros (54.811 billion U.S. dollars) in 2012, representing 4 percent of GDP, which meant an 18.5 percent increase over 2011 figure.

Meanwhile, regional government's debt (Comunidades Autonomas) reached 17.6 percent of GDP, 185.048 billion euros (241.683 billion U.S. dollars), setting a historical record and increasing by 30.9 percent since 2011 when the debt amounted to 141.363 billion euros (184.628 billion U.S. dollars).

The total debt of the Spanish administration is not the sum of the local, regional and central government debts, the Bank of Spain explained, as it changed the calculation method due to the complex financial transfers between different levels of the Spanish administration.