MADRID, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Spain’s public debt ended 2020 at 117.1% of gross domestic product as the coronavirus pandemic and the measures imposed to curb it lifted borrowing and led to a deep economic contraction, the Bank of Spain said on Wednesday.
Debt as a percentage of GDP increased by more than 20 percentage points in 2020 from the 95.5% recorded in December 2019, the Bank of Spain’s data showed.
The debt’s total value rose 122 billion euros ($147.16 billion) in 2020 to 1.31 trillion euros, mainly as a result of increased government spending on direct aid to people and companies affected by the pandemic, the economy ministry said on Wednesday.
Spain’s economy shrank by a record 11% in 2020 from 2019.
($1 = 0.8290 euros)
(Reporting by Inti Landauro, editing by Andrei Khalip and Kim Coghill)
Source: Reuters