Portugal’s public debt reached a record high rising to €250.3 billion, according to information released by the Bank of Portugal.

The figure for May represents an increase of €0.3 billion compared to April, with net government debt net of deposits increasing by € 1.4 billion compared to the previous month, totalling €226.3 billion, with assets in general government deposits falling by €1.1 billion.

The Portuguese government expects public debt at the end of the year to stand at €246.1 billion, which, although lower than the current value, represents a deterioration compared to €242.6 billion at the end of 2017.

The Ministry of Finance expects Portuguese public debt to fall at the end of the year from 125.7% to 122.2% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a fall of 8.4 percentage points below the peak of 130.6 % registered in 2014.

Portuguese weekly newspaper Expresso recently reported that Portugal’s public debt is the 11th highest in the world as a percentage of GDP, and is among the top countries in a list led by Japan (234%), Greece (191%) and Sudan (177%). (macauhub)