The net lending of the economy stood at 1.1% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the year ending in the third quarter of 2017, 0.2 percentage points (p.p.) more than in the previous quarter.
By institutional sector, there was an improvement in the General Government (GG) sector, from the net borrowing of 1.3% of GDP in the year ending in the second quarter of 2017 to 0.1%. The other sectors of the economy showed reductions in their respective balances. The net borrowing of Non-Financial Corporations increased by 0.3 p.p. to 1.8% of GDP, while the net lending of Financial Corporations declined slightly by 0.1 pp of GDP (2.1% in the third quarter). The net lending of Households decreased by 0.8 p.p., reflecting both the increase in final consumption expenditure and the decreased of disposable income.
Taking into account the quarterly figures and not the year ending in the quarter, the GG balance stood at around 1256.1 million Euros in the third quarter of 2017, corresponding to 2.6% of GDP (-2.1% in same period of the previous year). For the first three quarters of 2017, the total balance of the GG stood at -393.9 million Euros, representing -0.3% of GDP (-2.8% of GDP in the same period last year).