Italy's public debt increased by
31 billion euros in January, taking it up to 2.1659 trillion
euros, the Bank of Italy said on Friday.
The level is close to the record high of 2.1677 trillion
registered in July 2014.
The rise is due to a 36.3-billion-euro increase in the
Treasury's available liquidity, which at the end of January was
at 82.6 billion euros, almost double that of the 46.3 billion
euros of available liquidity at the end of December 2014.
This increase was offset only in part by the government's
4.6-billion-euro public administration surplus, by the overall
effect of issuing securities at a premium, by the euro's
depreciation and by the effects of the revaluation of bonds
linked to inflation (0.7 billion euros).
Italy's massive public debt, around 132% of GDP, is second
only to Greece in the eurozone, and is kept under close watch by
the European Commission (EC), whose mandated debt-to-GDP target
is 60%.
Despite giving provisional approval to the Italian
government's 2015 budget law in November, the EC has kept Italy
in the category of countries requiring "special surveillance" of
budget matters, Pierre Moscovici, European commissioner for
economic affairs, said in February.
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