In July 2025, Portugal’s public debt under the Maastricht criteria increased by 1 billion euros to a total of 288 billion euros, reported the Bank of Portugal on Monday.
This change was mainly due to a rise in debt securities by 0.8 billion euros and savings certificates by 0.4 billion euros, partially offset by a decrease in Treasury certificates by 0.2 billion euros, as outlined in the statement released by the banking regulator.
The public administration’s deposit assets amounted to 28.8 billion euros, marking an increase of 0.6 billion euros compared to June.
“Deducting these deposits, the public debt increased by 0.4 billion euros to 259.2 billion euros,” explained the Bank of Portugal.
The report further elaborates on the concept of public debt:
According to the Bank of Portugal, public debt refers to the financial liabilities of the public administrations sector. It is a key macroeconomic indicator used to assess the financial health of a country’s public administrations and often the country itself.
“There are various ways to measure public debt. In Portugal and other European Union countries, a harmonized definition commonly known as ‘Maastricht debt’ is used,” the banking regulator explains.
“According to this perspective, public debt includes cash liabilities and deposits with public administrations (such as savings certificates or Treasury certificates), debt securities issued by public administrations (including, among others, bonds and Treasury bills), and loans obtained by these entities.”
“Certain financial instruments, such as shares and other equity, financial derivatives, and other accounts payable/receivable (including commercial debts), are not included in the Maastricht public debt calculation,” it states.
The term “consolidated” also means that debts within the public administration sector that are held by entities in the same sector are excluded, and the nominal value, or the value that public administrations (issuers/debtors) must repay at the end of the contract, is used for valuation.
Although the public debt is expressed in monetary units, for analysis purposes, it is often presented as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP),” the report adds.
Moreover, “Under the European Union Treaty, member states agreed to maintain public debt below 60% of GDP and a budget deficit below 3% of GDP. In the Stability Pact, member states committed to maintaining a budgetary position that is either positive or close to balance. These values are defined in the Protocol attached to the European Union Treaty on the Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP), which also states that member states must submit information on the deficit and debt to the European Commission. According to current legislation, Eurostat analyzes and validates the information provided by each country.”
[Updated at 11:09]
