© Reuters. The debt of Spanish companies and households is still above pre-pandemic levels
Madrid, Apr 12 (.).- The debt of Spanish companies and households stood at 1.6 trillion euros at the end of 2022, 1.3% less than the previous year, but 3.1% above the level registered at the end of 2019, before the pandemic began, according to the Bank of Spain on Wednesday.
In terms of GDP, this ratio moderates indebtedness to 125.1%, below the 139.4% reached in December 2021 and 129.3% in 2019.
Specifically, the consolidated debt of non-financial corporations fell to 957,600 million euros from the 978,100 million that it totaled in December 2021, which, in terms of GDP, represents a debt of 72.2% compared to 81% of a year before.
If intercompany debt is included in this calculation, the ratio in 2022 would be 93.4%, also lower than the 104.5% registered in 2021.
Likewise, the debt of households and non-profit institutions (ISFLSH) fell slightly from 704,200 million in December 2021 to 702,000 million euros, which represented a ratio over GDP of 53%, compared to 58.4%. of the last quarter of the previous year.
Household financial assets -cash, securities, deposits and shares- totaled 2.7 trillion euros, a figure very similar to that of a year earlier, explains the Bank of Spain.
In 2022 there was a negative revaluation of 46,300 million euros, which offset the net acquisition of financial assets for an amount of 45,000 million, which was focused on deposits and equity holdings.
By component, the bulk of household financial assets were held in cash and deposits (40% of the total), followed by equity (31%); shares in investment funds (14%) and insurance and pension funds (12%).
The cash and deposits component increased its weight in household financial assets the most (by 1.6 percentage points) compared to a year earlier, while the weight of insurance and pension funds fell the most (-2 points), weighed down by its negative revaluation.
In this way, the net financial wealth of households and ISFLSH, which is obtained by deducting their debts from their savings, fell slightly last year, by 0.2%, and stood at 1.95 trillion euros.
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