Portugal’s household-owned public debt increased again in 2023, reaching 17%, while foreign investors reduced their weighting, although they continue to be the group with the largest overhang, the Bank of Portugal (BdP) said this Monday.
Regulator data shows that at the end of last year, Portuguese families owned 17% of the country’s total public debt, adding to their weight: in 2022 they held about 13% and in 2021 about 12%.
The new increase was mainly due to household subscriptions to savings certificates (CAs), particularly in the first half of the year, which was partially offset by a decline in investment in treasury certificates, the banking regulator explained.
Despite this, foreign investors remained the main holders of Portuguese government debt securities (42%).
However, this percentage represents a reduction since non-resident investors held 45% of Portugal’s total public debt at the end of 2022.
In 2023, Banco de Portugal owned 26% and resident banks owned 11%.
BdP data shows that at the end of 2023, 51% of government debt had a remaining maturity of more than five years, and 23% of government debt reached maturity within one year (Treasury certificates and savings certificates held by individuals are considered products with a remaining maturity up to one year).
Portugal’s public debt fell to 99.1% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023, down 13.3 percentage points from 2022.
Public debt from a Maastricht perspective fell by €9.3 billion to €263.1 billion last year.