Public debt almost 20 percent higher than legal limit

BELGRADE - Serbia's public debt totalled EUR 20.94 billion or around 64.3 percent of the country's GDP at the end of July, which exceeds the legally envisaged debt limit in Serbia (45 percent of the GDP) by almost 20 percent.

According to the Finance Ministry's data, the public debt in July increased by EUR 279 million, and since the beginning of the year the figure increased by EUR 798 million.

Thus the public debt of Serbia overstepped the European 'red line of debt' which totals 60 percent of a country's GDP.

Serbia's total external debt, including the debt of the private sector, totalled EUR 12.39 billion at the end of July, while the total internal debt totalled EUR 8.55 billion.

At the end of 2013, Serbia's public debt totalled EUR 20.14 billion, or 63.8 percent of the GDP.

At the end of 2000, the country's public debt added up to EUR 14.17 billion, which at the time added up to 169.3 percent of the country's GDP. Later on, the country's public debt hit its record low in 2008, totalling EUR 8.78 billion or 29.2 percent of the country's GDP.

Photo Tanjug, Z.Zestic