LISBON: Portuguese state debt is the fourth highest among the 43 countries included in an OECD study that was released earlier in the week. The ‘Government at a Glance’ report noted that Portuguese state liabilities amounted to 130.2 percent of GDP at the end of 2014 in a figure that may fall back to 127.7 percent in 2015 and 124.2 percent in 2016.
Hence, at the end of 2014, Portugal came in behind Japan (226 percent of GDP), Greece (177.4 percent) and Italy (132 percent) with the OECD forecasting that this ranking will remain in effect over the next two years even while, in contrast to the Portuguese case, the report forecasts that the other three countries shall continue to experience rising or steady debt levels.
The OECD report points out that in 2013 the average level of OECD state debt was already into the triple figures at 109.3 percent of GDP with the period between 2007 and 2013 seeing average debt levels put on 34.7 percent. The report duly notes that the greatest surge in debt levels was identified in those countries subject to troika level bailouts, contrasting the situation with Japan where the fact that the state’s debt was domestically held provided for a more stable basis for emissions.
This biannual report, now into its fourth edition, covers all 34 OECD member states plus Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Russia, South Africa and Ukraine.
