At the end of the first quarter of 2026, public debt as defined by the Maastricht criteria stood at €3,536.1 billion, an increase of €75.6 billion, following a decrease of €23.6 billion in the previous quarter. Expressed as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), it stood at 117.5%, after 115.7% in the fourth quarter of 2025. The rise in public debt was accompanied by an increase in general government cash position (+€21.3 billion, following a decrease of €31.1 billion), with the result that net debt rose by less than gross debt (+€55.6 billion) and stood at 109.7% of GDP, up from 108.5% in the fourth quarter of 2025. [...]