Bank of Portugal publishes January 2025 securities statistics with EUR 3.1bn net public debt issuance

The Bank of Portugal has released updated securities statistics for January 2025 alongside an analytical note on debt securities funding by Portuguese non-financial corporations. The update shows resident debt securities outstanding rose to EUR 302.4bn at end-January, mainly because public debt issuance exceeded redemptions by EUR 3.1bn, and the market value of listed shares issued by residents increased to EUR 60.4bn. In its corporate funding analysis, the Bank of Portugal reports that, at end-2023, 14.5% of Portuguese non-financial corporations’ funding came from issuing debt securities. In 2024, the nominal value of non-financial corporate debt securities increased to EUR 43.4bn, up EUR 3.8bn year on year, with long-term instruments (over one year) reaching EUR 33.1bn and average residual maturity rising to 13.8 years by end-2024. Issuance remains concentrated, with only 0.2% of resident non-financial corporations using this funding channel, while companies in groups accounted for 97% of long-term debt securities outstanding; electricity and consultancy, scientific and technical activities each had around EUR 11bn outstanding and together represented 70% of long-term corporate debt securities, with ESG-classified instruments making up 67% of the electricity sector’s securitised debt (EUR 7.6bn). On the investor side, non-residents held 65% of long-term corporate debt securities at end-2024, while resident financial institutions held 88% of short-term instruments. The next update is scheduled for 19 March 2025.