In Q3 2019, Croatia's gross foreign-debt-to-GDP ratio was 80.9 percent, or 1.7 percentage points down from the end of 2018, totalling €43.3 billion, the central bank's data showed on Thursday.

At the end of Q3 2019, the gross debt of companies was €17.1 billion, while the general government’s foreign debt totalled €14.4 billion, accounting for around a third of the overall gross foreign debt.

The increase in foreign debt over the first nine months of 2019 was mainly generated by increased liabilities in the public sector as it totalled €17.6 billion at the Q3 2019, an increase by €1.1 billion compared with the end of 2018, the central bank said.

With its debt of €14.4 billion, the government is ther single largest debtor in the public sector, its debt increasing by €414 million in nine months since December 2018, while the central bank’s own foreign debt was €2 billion, up by €390 million in the same period.

The non-guaranteed debt of the private sector at the end of September 2019 was slightly below the level recorded at the end of 2018 and amounted to €25.5 billion.

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