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LISBON, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Portugal's public debt climbed to 131.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the first half of this year, more than the 129 percent registered at the end of March, according to figures released by the Bank of Portugal on Monday.
The Portuguese central bank said in its June statistics bulletin that the public sector debt went up to 240.019 billion euros in June, 2.4 billion euros more than in March this year and 8.67 billion euros more than that in December last year.
Portugal underwent tough austerity under a 78 billion euro bailout it signed with international lenders in 2011 in an attempt to reduce its debt load.
The country exited the bailout program three years later and its economy is back on tack of slow recovery but its public debt remains around 130 percent of GDP in recent years. (1 euro = 1.13 U.S.dollars) Enditem
