Italy's public debt topped EUR 1.9 trillion

Italy's public debt topped EUR 1.9 trillion for the first time, in the midst of frantic efforts to get out of a financial crisis caused by growing doubts of the possibility of market control. The Italian Central Bank (Banca d'Italia) said in its report that the nominal value of the public debt of the state has risen again in the last month of June 2011 to EUR 1.9 trillion, an increase of EUR 4.4 billion since its last highest record of May of EUR 1.8 trillion. The report noted that the nominal value of the Italian public debt - which is the fourth-largest sovereign debt in the world - increased by 3.19 percent since the end of 2010. Meanwhile, the central bank said that the resources of the public treasury in return, increased during the first six months of the year by 1.3 percent for the total intake to reach EUR 176.5 billion net. It also pointed out that the calculation of public debt according to European standards of stability does not depend on the nominal value but the rate of the GDP, which is currently estimated at 119 percent.