The Public Treasury not only has the challenge of placing public debt in the midst of an escalation of interest rates, but also of replacing the enormous machinery with which the European Central Bank (ECB) has been providing financial assistance to the countries of the euro zone since the outbreak of the pandemic. For now, there are already three groups that are emerging to replace the central bank as the large buyers of public debt: foreign investors, investment funds and individuals.
According to the latest data from the Treasury, non-residents in Spain have increased their possession of public debt by 32,000 million euros between January and August, up to 531,842 million euros, 40.8% of the State's liabilities, of 1.3 trillion . They have done so while the ECB's balance was reduced by 6,000 million, to 408,081 million, 31.3% of all debt.
Also noteworthy is what happened to individuals, who have gone from accumulating 979 million a year ago to 22,291 million now, that is, 21,300 million more. They are followed by the funds, which have totaled 21,270 million, up to 41,687 million. Spanish banks, on the other hand, maintain levels very similar to those of last year, 164,355 million, 12.6%.
After ending emergency debt purchases last year, the European Central Bank is now dedicated to reinvesting maturities. It will do so until the end of 2024, when the States should already walk alone.
"No problems are foreseen for the great replacement of the ECB, which is being withdrawn gradually", says Antoni Cunyat, professor of Economics and Business Studies at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC). "The important thing is that the risk premium goes down."
Treasury figures show, in this case with records from October, that the average cost of debt is now 2.05%, compared to 1.7% in January. However, this year it is being placed at rates of between 3.5% and 4.2%.
