Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy added more than 3 billion euros ($3.9 billion) to his debt load in the closing hours of 2012 with a New Year’s Eve order removing a cap on utilities’ government-guaranteed losses.
The decision, announced in the official gazette, added to the snowballing power-tariff debt, which isn’t included in the public accounts. The shortfall exceeded 20 billion euros at year end, according to government filings.