Even Finance Minster, Maria Luís Albuquerque, acknowledges Portugal’s "very high debt" with the inclusion of the debts of the national railway company, and Oporto and Lisbon’s rail transport networks.
Portugal's total debt, as calculated using the Maastricht formula which allows comparisons between EU countries, rose in late April to €225.9 billion, an increase of €5.2 billion from the previous month, according to an announcement by the Bank of Portugal.
In a statement sent to media, the bank said that in April the increase resulted largely from the application of new European rules which require that accounts for public debt should include companies in the public sector that have received state loans to keep them solvent.
The bank reported that these three companies have received a total €1.5 billion of state funding; their overall debt levels are higher leading to the increased total national debt figure.
The Bank of Portugal states that the granting of financial assistance to these three companies "led to the immediate recognition of their total debt as state debt, in accord with the Maastricht rules defined by the European Union."
