Advertisement

Only Greece tops Italy for debt: EU

Author thumbnail
Only Greece tops Italy for debt: EU
The Italian government recent cut its 2014 growth forecast to 0.8 percent. Photo: money pictures/Flickr

The Italian government's debt-to-GDP ratio hit 132.6 percent in 2013, the second-highest in the EU after Greece, figures released on Wednesday showed.

Advertisement

Italy topped Greece’s 175.1 percent, as a ratio of government debt to GDP, with both countries well above the EU average of 87.1 percent, statistics agency Eurostat reported.

Portugal is also struggling to balance its books, registering a 129.0 percent debt ratio in 2013, ahead of Ireland with 123.7 percent and Cyprus’ 111.7 percent.

Countries in eastern Europe were shown to be faring better than the larger EU economies, with Estonia boasting the lowest debt ratio of 10.0 percent. Bulgaria, Latvia, Romania and Lithuania all featured in the top six, along with Luxembourg.

The poor figures for Italy come less than a week after Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan asked the EU to delay a deadline for cutting its public deficit. The government recently cut Italy’s 2014 growth forecast to 0.8 percent, although the minister promised that plans to revamp the economy would have a positive impact next year.

READ MORE: Italy asks EU for more time to meet debt target

Don't miss a story about Italy - Join us on Facebook and Twitter.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also