Debt now exceeds €5 billion

The national debt exceeded €5 billion at the end of the second quarter, according to data published by Eurostat.

The EU’s statistics office said Malta’s debt stood at €5,008 million, or 76.3 per cent of GDP. Compared with a year earlier, this meant an increase of €473 million, or 5.5 per cent of GDP.

Although rising at a fast pace, Malta’s debt is still lower than the average in the euro area, which, by the second quarter of the year, reached 90 per cent of GDP.

According to Eurostat, the countries with the highest debt levels at the end of June were Greece (150.3 per cent), Italy (126.1 per cent) and Portugal (117.5 per cent).

On the other hand, Bulgaria (16.5 per cent) and Estonia (7.3 per cent) had the lowest debt levels.

Over the past 12 months, only four countries in the EU managed to reduce their debt levels: Greece, Latvia, Hungary and Sweden.