ECB: The Greek debt got harder due to the measures for the support of the banks.

In the period between 2008-2014 the public debt of Greece rose by 22,2% of the GNP while Ireland's debt rose by 22,6%. On the other hand the debt of France, Italy and Latvia rose by less than 1% of the GNP.

According to a study, published by the ECB in its monthly bulletin, the financial aid that was given to the banks in the whole of Europe, rose the public debt by 4,8% of the European GNP. That is almost one fifth of the total rise which jumped from 65% to 92%.

The money that were given to the banks account for 8% of the Eurozone GNP while the countries have recovered 40% of those moneys.

The effects of the support towards the banks were particularly grave in the case of Ireland. Greece, Cyprus and Slovenia were hard hit by those measures which cost 8%-13% of the GNP.

At the end of 2014, Greece had the highest percentage of national guarantees to banks. It rose to 28,5% of the Greek GNP while the average is 2,7% for the whole of the Eurozone.

In the bulletin the ECB noted that:”The countries have risen their guarantees in order to secure the citizens deposits and this support might result in higher public costs in the long run”