The federal government debt in Europe has reached a staggering 500.534 billion euros at the end of March, according to reports from the Debt Agency. This is a first, as the debt has surpassed half a trillion euros for the first time. While the federal government’s gross debt has exceeded 500 billion euros before, this amount includes factors such as investments. However, when looking only at debt, this is the first time the figure of 500 billion euros has been reached, said Jean Deboutte, director of the Debt Agency.
In March alone, 8.10 billion euros in debt was added. Despite this increase, Deboutte stated that it is proceeding as planned and that by 2024, the federal government debt will increase by 21.5 billion euros. This is an increase of 27.4 billion euros from last year. It’s important to note that this information pertains solely to the federal government debt and not to the debts of all governments in the country combined which have already exceeded 600 billion euros.