The rising cost of healthcare is blamed for NHS debt problems

The figure, confirmed by the assembly government, is a combination of historic debt and this year's deficit.

Conservative AM Jonathan Morgan said local health boards (LHBs) were being "saddled with responsibilities" without enough funding.

Welsh Health Minister Brian Gibbons said the assembly government was working to tackle inefficiencies.

The figure of �71m was given to the Conservatives' assembly health spokesman Jonathan Morgan by NHS Wales director Ann Lloyd.

But there is a possibility the deficit could be higher when the financial year finishes at the end of the month.

The total budget for the Welsh NHS is around �4.9bn.

Gren Kershaw, chief executive of Conwy and Denbighshire NHS Trust, blamed his trust's �4.8m debt on the costs of new treatments and drugs.

An increase in energy bills and the NHS's new pay system - Agenda for Change had also added to the problem, he said.

Mr Morgan, the Conservatives assembly health spokesman, said the assembly government was "clearly" not funding its programmes.

Frontline services

He told BBC Radio Wales: "If you talk to the NHS trusts and the local health boards they're being saddled with responsibilities for which they're not getting the money.

"A very clear example of that is when the Royal College of Nursing told me that the new agenda for change programme for the nursing profession is under-funded to the tune of �24m."

In December, the estimated figure for trusts alone was �27.6m, which did not include local health boards (LHBs) and Health Commission Wales.

The NHS and social care budget for Wales has almost doubled since 1999 to just under �5bn for this financial year.

Jenny Randerson, the Liberal Democrats assembly spokeswoman on health, said there was an issue with the amount of money getting through to frontline services.

"I also think that we have to face up to the fact that there is a dramatic escalation in expectations," she said.

Brian Gibbons said a 2% debt was "manageable"

"There is an ageing population. In addition to that you've got the complexities of the [government's] Agenda for Change which puts fresh financial burdens."

Welsh Health Minister Brian Gibbons said the �71m debt was 2% of annual turnover, which was "manageable".

He said his department had "clearly outlined" the way forward for the NHS in Wales.

But Dr Gibbons warned that trust managers must work hard to get rid of "significant inefficiencies" in the system.

He added: "If an organisation doesn't prove capable of addressing those issues - with the assistance of the intervention team we will be sending into those organisations - clearly major questions will have to be asked of the leadership."