Catalonia’s economic growth during the first quarter of the year facilitated the reduction of debt in relation to GDP to 33.1%, the lowest level since 2014. Even so, as the deficit continued to accumulate month after month, the debt continued to grow by more than 1,000 million euros, up to 85,456 million.
During the presentation of the 2023 budgets, the Minister of Economy, Natàlia Mas, already predicted that the debt/GDP ratio would drop despite the fact that the accounts were expansive. Yesterday after meeting in Madrid with the president of Airef, Cristina Herrero, Mas warned that “the State cannot impose a unilateral and disproportionate distribution of the deficit objectives”. In his opinion, the reintroduction of fiscal rules on a European scale “requires good planning and a medium and long-term view”.
Once again, Valencia was the community with the most inflated debt in relation to GDP (43.7%). In absolute value, with 55,439 million, it was ranked second behind Catalonia.
In the communities as a whole, the debt in relation to GDP has also been reduced to 23.7%. It is the lowest since 2019.
Public administration debt rose by 32,761 million in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the last three months of last year and marked a new historical record at 1.535 trillion. However, economic growth made it possible to reduce its weight in relation to GDP, and it fell from 113.2% to the 113% advanced by the Bank of Spain a month ago. Unlike what happens with the communities, in the case of the administrations as a whole the debt in relation to the GDP remains above the pre-pandemic level. In 2019, it stood at 98.2%.
By administrations, the central office once again has the largest volume, with 1.388 trillion. This figure represents an increase of 2.1% compared to the previous quarter. For their part, the Spanish autonomous communities accumulate a debt of 322,211 million, 5,317 million more than the previous quarter. Likewise, local corporations placed their debt at 23,032 million, with a quarter-on-quarter increase of just 13 million, 0.05%.
