, Columnist
Italy's Debt Is Less Terrifying Than It Looks
Rome’s borrowings are enormous and need to be fixed eventually, but ECB and EU crisis help might even improve its debt balance this year.
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The economic fallout for Italy from Covid-19 is going to hammer its already precarious government finances. The country’s 1.7 trillion-euro ($1.9 trillion) debt mountain is the largest in Europe, and there will no doubt be a substantial jump in its ratio of debt to gross domestic product from 135% to beyond 150%.
Nevertheless, Rome’s ability to manage its borrowings may not be affected much at all. The numbers will be bigger, yes, but it should be able to maintain the financial balancing act.