What is the debt?

The national debt is the total amount of money the Greek Government currently owes. This is different to the deficit, which is the amount of money the Government spends in excess of income. Each year we run a deficit, the national debt grows. It's not merely the huge scale of the national debt that is cause for concern, but also the rate at which it is increasing. The national debt will be € 20 billion more at the end of this year than it was at the beginning.