An increase of €263.9 million in the general government debt during 2012 means the overall debt level by the end of last year reached €4,871.2m.

This 5.7 per cent increase over 2011 means the debt level now represents 72.1 per cent of GDP.

According to the National Statistics Office, the financial corporations sector last year had the biggest share of debt, with 60.8 per cent, followed by the households and non-profit institutions serving households (NPISH) with 31.7 per cent.

The non-financial corporations sector holds 1.7 per cent of the debt.

Malta Government Stocks and Treasury Bills are by far the preferred debt instrument for Government with €4,476.9m or 91.9 per cent of the total debt in 2012. Other debt instruments are the ‘loans’ and ‘currency’ with 7.1 per cent and one per cent respectively.

In 2012, the market value of the total government debt was estimated at €5,286.1m compared to the nominal value of €4,871.2m. The National Statistics Office said that almost all the debt owed by the general government sector is in national currency whereas the debt issued in foreign currencies is decreasing and in 2012 it amounted to €0.9m.

The apparent cost of debt, which is the interest rate applicable to the whole nominal debt, was reported to be 4.49 per cent in 2012, a marginal drop from 4.53 per cent in 2011.