Last year, Portugal registered one of the highest proportions of interest paid in gross domestic product (GDP) among eurozone countries, standing at 2%, INE said this Monday.
In detailed data on government spending in 2022 released this Monday, the National Institute of Statistics (INE) explains that Portugal recorded one of the highest weights of interest paid in gross domestic product (GDP), at 2%, second only to Greece. , Spain (2.4% each) and Italy (4.4%).
The statistical agency points out that these countries “also had high levels of public debt as a percentage of GDP.”
However, Portugal paid about 4.7 billion euros of interest on its public debt, down 9.4% from the previous year.
INE indicates that this value represents a decrease “by 44.5% compared to the value recorded in 2014, the year of completion of the Economic and Financial Assistance Program.”
“The decline in interest paid since 2014 is mainly the result of lower interest rates, as the dynamics of gross public debt (consolidated) has generally been growing,” he emphasizes.
INE notes that since 2014 the weight of interest paid in GDP has been falling, but is still higher than recorded for the eurozone as a whole.