Spain public debt has climbed to record 92.2 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) for the second quarter of this year amid deteriorating financial woes.
The Bank of Spain announced on Friday that the Spanish debt for the period between April and June surpassed the government’s year-end target of 91.4 percent of GDP, reaching the unprecedented 92.2-percent level.
This is while Spain’s debt is predicted to further rise for at least three more years, with the possibility that it may even top 100 percent of its GDP, the highest level in over a century.
The development comes as the European Union country struggles to decrease one of the highest budget gaps in the eruozone and revive its failing economy.
According to the Bank of Spain, meanwhile, the public debt in the EU’s fourth largest economy surged by around 15 percent, compared to the same period last year.
The deep recession also drove the country’s unemployment rate to a record high of 27 percent in May. Official figures show that the total number of unemployed people has passed the five million mark.
Among those aged 16 to 24, the jobless rate stands at a staggering 55 percent, which has led many jobless youths to move to other countries in search of work.
Furthermore, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) recently said the high unemployment rate and economic slump have caused an increase in the number of children living below poverty line in Spain.
Battered by the global financial downturn, the Spanish economy collapsed into recession in the second half of 2008.
The Spanish government has also been sharply criticized over its austerity measures which have hit the middle and working classes the hardest.
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