Oops! Typing error adds €10bn to Spain's public debt

A simple typographical error boosted Spain's 2014 public debt forecast by €10bn (£8.4bn), the government has admitted.

Four days after announcing the national debt figure to the world, the Economy Ministry issued a correction, according to the Daily Telegraph. Spain's public debt in 2014 is expected to be the equivalent of 98.9% of total economic output, not the 99.8% figure that was originally published. The error was not due to a problem in mathematical computations. Rather, the person who typed the number just mixed up the last two digits, a spokesperson said. When dealing with an economy the size of Spain's, which is the fourth biggest in the eurozone, the figure is equivalent to about €10bn. ...