Spanish debt hits record 84.1pc of GDP

MADRID: Spain's public debt hit a new record of 84.1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) at the end of 2012, owing to increases both at the federal level and that of the country's 17 autonomous regions, official data released on Friday showed.

The figure, which gained 14.8 percentage points last year, was well above the European Union limit of 60 percent of GDP, but came in a bit below the government's own forecast of 85.3 percent.