Portugal is the most vulnerable country in the so-called group of the world's most developed nations to rising interest rates and the discontinuation of cheap money programmes by the European Central Bank (ECB). That's what the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) says in its annual debt outlook survey of more than three dozen countries in the OECD club.
According to Dinheiro Vivo, which relies on the report, Portugal leads a group of 32 states analysed, with 50 per cent of its public debt held by the Eurozone central banking system.
The vulnerability of Portugal and the State Budget is high because the Eurosystem is raising interest rates, but, above all, because it will start to get rid of Treasury bonds as they reach maturity, writes the publication.
According to the OECD, Slovakia ranks second among the most vulnerable economies, with about 50% of its debt at the central bank. In the opposite direction is Iceland, which is the least vulnerable to interest rate hikes, having virtually no liabilities on the central bank's balance sheet.