Italy's debt reaches record 1.8 trln euros (That's a spicy meatball!!)

AFP on Yahoo ^ | 6/14/10 | AFP

[NormsRevenge]

MILAN (AFP) – Italy has a record public debt of 1.813 trillion euros, an increase of 0.8 percent in a month, the Bank of Italy warned on Monday, three weeks after the centre-right government acted to cut overspending.

In March, the figure stood at 1.797 trillion euros (2.2 trillion dollars), the central bank said when issuing data for April, without indicating the percentage of gross domestic product that the latest figure represents.

Last year public debt reached 115.8 percent of GDP, and it is forecast to rise to 118.4 percent this year.

In a bid to clean up public finances and reassure the markets, the centre-right government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi last month approved an austerity package totalling 24.9 billion euros for 2011 and 2012.

The measures are expected to bring the deficit's percentage of GDP down to 2.7 percent in 2012 -- within the three percent required by the European Union -- from the current 5.3 percent.

Among other measures, Italy's government will freeze public sector salaries for three years, step up its fight against tax evasion and cut ministerial budgets by 10 percent.

The central bank however warned last week that the plan could reduce growth.

In May, the government lowered its growth forecast for 2011 to 1.5 percent from 2.0 percent. The government expects output to grow by one percent in 2010 and by 2.0 percent in 2012.

The public debt last spiked in October 2009, when it stood at 1.802 trillion euros.

The Bank of Italy also said tax receipts fell back 1.8 percent to 104.7 billion euros in the first four months of the year compared with the same period in 2009.

[NormsRevenge]

Slackers.

Shrinking Revenue leads to Starving Unions? NOT!

[NormsRevenge]

Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (right) and Italy's Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti leave a press conference in Rome on May 26. Italy has a record public debt of 1.813 trillion euros, an increase of 0.8 percent in a month, the Bank of Italy warned on Monday, three weeks after the centre-right government acted to cut overspending. (AFP/File/Alberto Pizzoli)

[mewzilla]

Things might actually be even worse.

Greece got caught cooking their books.

Wonder if Italy's doing something similar...

[Tzimisce]

Well the rich aren’t paying their fair share.

They just need to raise taxes. :)

/sarc

[Red Badger]

Italy’s cooking the pasta................

[mewzilla]

Folks better hope that's all they're cookin' :)

[Riodacat]

They could cut spending in half if they got Berlusconi to pay for his own hookers.

[Red Badger]

Spain will provide the spice and Portugal will provide the whine............

[mewzilla]

Ah, but who gets stuck with the tab...?

[Red Badger]

The Irish, of course!...........

[Trillian]

Socialism and communism are utter failures once again and yet people keep doing it!

[spokeshave]

...they have more olive grove acreage subsidized by the EU than the entire land mass of Italy.

[Euroconservative]

Italy is the third net contributor to the European Union. Not a net receiver like Greece or Portugal. The public debt is above 100% since early 1980s (120% in late 1990s) but the private debt is below the european average. And no one should forget the regional differences between north and south.