In conditions of modest economic growth, the share of the gross domestic debt in GDP was 114.5%, RBA analysts say and underline that after a drop in 2012 and a very mild increase in 2013 and 2014, the gross foreign debt has been growing at a faster rate since January 2015.
Compared to the end of 2014, the gross domestic debt in the first three months of this year grew by 2.7 billion euros or 5.7%, with the general government share in the gross domestic debt having increased the most, by 1.3 billion euros, and the share of the central bank going up by 755 million euros to 1.2 billion euros. Exchange rate changes contributed to the growth of the gross foreign debt with 1.4 billion euros.
The growth of the general government's debt by 8.3% from the end of 2014 was due to a 1.5 billion international issue of euro-denominated bonds in March.
Totalling 17.7 billion euros, the share of the general government gross debt in the overall foreign debt reached 34%, its highest level since November 2004 and 10.7 percentage points more than at the end of March of the pre-crisis year 2008.
The debt of the private sector at the end of Q1 2015 totalled 29.4 billion euros, 609 million or 2.1% more than at the end of last year.
Nonetheless, RBA analysts point to an ongoing trend of deleveraging in the private sector, primarily through the reduction of the gross foreign debt of the financial sector. That trend is reflected in the fact that the financial sector's foreign debt has been decreasing on the year for 35 consecutive months, and at the end of March it was down 12.3%.
The other domestic sectors which are not subject to government guarantees have seen a slight increase in their debt, which RBA analysts see as a possible direct result of more favourable market borrowing conditions.
The debt of those sectors at the end of Q1 2015 totalled 11.7 billion euros, including a debt of 11.6 billion euros of private non-financial companies, an increase of 413 million euros.