This figure is the highest since the start of the Banco de Portugal series in 2007.

"In August 2020, the indebtedness of the non-financial sector stood at 736.6 billion Euros, of which 334.4 billion Euros concerned the public sector and 402.2 billion Euros the private sector," reads the note from the Banco de Portugal accompanying the statistical information.

Compared with July 2020, the indebtedness of the non-financial sector increased by more than EUR 1.7 billion, which the central bank attributes to the increase of EUR 2.3 billion in public sector indebtedness, partly offset by the reduction of EUR 600 million in private sector indebtedness.

The increase of the public sector to 334.4 million Euro is attributed to the rise in indebtedness vis-à-vis the financial sector (1.5 billion Euro) and vis-à-vis the rest of the world (900 million Euro), partly offset by the reduction in indebtedness vis-à-vis the public sector itself (200 million Euro).

In the non-financial private sector, the fall to EUR 402.1 million is due to the fall in corporate indebtedness (EUR 900 million) due to the fall in external indebtedness. The indebtedness of individuals vis-à-vis the financial sector increased by 300 million Euros.

In the year-on-year comparison, compared to August 2019, the indebtedness of the non-financial sector of the economy increased by 14,928 million Euros to 736.557 billion Euros.