The Spanish public debt climbed to 88.2 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) to total of 922.828 billion euros (1,228 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter of 2013, hitting a record high according to new data released on Friday by the Bank of Spain.
In annual terms the Spanish public debt increased by 19.09 percent since the first quarter of 2012, while on a quarterly basis the country's public debt increased by 4.4 percent since the last quarter of 2012, when it had reached 883.848 billion euros.
The three levels of the Spanish administration (central, regional and local) experienced increases in their public debt.
The debt of the Spanish central administration rose from previous 655.365 billion euros of the first quarter of 2012 to 796.817 billion euros of the first quarter of 2013 (76.2 percent of Spain's GDP).
The debt of the regional governments (Comunidades Autonomas) climbed to 189.589 billion euros in the first quarter of 2013 from 146.395 billion euros of the first quarter of 2012, which meant a 29.51 percent increase in annual terms.
Finally, the debt of Spain's local administrations stood at 4.1 percent of GDP in the first quarter, 42.795 billion euros, which meant a 16.1 percent increase after having declined for the last two consecutive quarters.
The Spanish government expects to finish 2013 with a public debt of 91.4 percent of the country's GDP and this new data will probably make them to change their predictions.
Meanwhile, Friday also saw the Bank of Spain publish new data about the debt of Spanish banks to the European Central Bank (ECB), which stood at 254.979 billion euros in May, experiencing a 0.87 percent decrease.
The debt has been declining for the last nine months after having increased 11 consecutive months until August 2012 when it hit a record high of 388.736 billion euros (1 euro = 1.33 U.S. dollars)./.