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The Financial Accounts of the Spanish Economy, published today by the Bank of Spain , show that, until the first quarter of 2018 and in accumulated terms of four quarters, the net financial operations of the resident sectors presented a surplus of 24,000 million euros, equivalent to 2% of GDP, a ratio equal to that observed in 2017 as a whole.
By institutional sectors, non-financial corporations and the sector of households and non-profit institutions serving households (NPISH) obtained positive balances of 2.2% and 0.4% of GDP, respectively. Financial Email Data institutions showed a surplus of 2.4% of GDP, while the balance of net financial operations of public administrations represented -2.9% of GDP in the same period.
The gross debt of non-financial corporations and households and NPISHs reached 1,837 billion euros at the end of the first quarter of 2018, 156.4% of GDP, 9.4 percentage points (pp) below the ratio recorded at end of the same quarter of the previous year. By institutional sectors, unconsolidated debt represented 95.9% of GDP in non-financial corporations in the same period (if inter-corporate loans were excluded, the ratio would be 77.2%) and 60.5% in households and NPISHs.
The total financial assets of the household and NPISH sector reached an amount of 2,133 billion euros at the end of the first quarter of 2018, 4 billion lower than that observed in the same quarter of the previous year. This slight decrease was the result of a net acquisition of financial assets of €19 billion over the last four quarters that was more than offset by the negative effect of the decline in asset prices of €24 billion, primarily in those of variable income. In relation to GDP, the total financial assets of households and NPISHs represented 181.6% at the end of the first quarter of 2018, which is almost 8 pp less than a year before.
The note from the Bank of Spain highlights citizens' preference for having their financial assets in deposits or cash (40% of the total). Next in preference is participation in the capital of companies (25%), savings in insurance or pension funds (7%) and investment funds (15%). Investment funds are the ones that have grown the most in the period considered (January-March 2018), with an increase of 1.2 percentage points. On the contrary, the weight in equity participations was reduced by 1.8 percentage points.
Finally, the net financial wealth of households and NPISHs, which is obtained by deducting liabilities from total financial assets, stood at €1,361 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2018, equal to the amount observed at the end of the same quarter of 2018. last year. In relation to GDP, net financial assets represented 116%, a ratio that is 4.6 pp lower than a year ago.
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