The debt went up by just over €8 billion from the €241 billion and a bit at the beginning of the year, meaning every man, woman and child in the country owed about €24,000 in January and their liabilities have grown some €800 in just six months.

In this year’s Stability Plan, which was presented in April, the government undertook to bring the debt down to 127.9% of GDP after it reached 130.3% at the end of last year.