According to latest MoF data, central government debt stood at €303.5bnat the end of Q2’12, up by €23.2bn or 8.3% compared to Q1’12 (€280.3bn) and down by €50.2bn or 14.2% versus Q2’11 (€353.7bn), primarily reflecting PSI transaction. Note that only part of the incremental increase of €23.2bn in Q2’12 vs Q1’12 is attributed to the evolution of central government deficit, which rose by €5.2bn over the same period.

The bulk of Q2’12 debt is allocated to Financial Support Mechanism loans (€148.8bn), bonds issued domestically (€117.0bn) and short-term notes (€15.0bn). It is noteworthy that 43% (Q1’12: 47%) is fixed-rate, while €26.7bn or 8.8% is short-term (up to 1 year), €55.4bn or 18.2% medium-term (1-5 years) and €221.5bn or 73.0% long-term (>5 years). Furthermore, the avg. residual maturity stands at 12.1 years (Q1’12: 11.3 years), while the avg. maturity of 2012 new borrowing stood at 11.2 years. Debt guaranteed by the central government amounted to €20.0bn, while cash deposits remained almost flat q-o-q at €3.5bn at the end of Q2’12 from €3.6bn at the end of Q1’12.