Italy public debt down in 2017

ROME, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Italy's debt-to-GDP ratio dropped to 131.5 percent in 2017, down from 132 percent in 2016 and slightly better than the 131.6 percent forecast by the government, ISTAT national statistics institute said in a report out Thursday.

Italy's deficit-to-GDP ratio dropped to 1.9 percent in 2017, down from 2.5 percent the year before, ISTAT said.

The figure is better than the 2.1 percent deficit forecast in the government's economic blueprint and is the lowest on record in the past decade.

The national statistics agency said the figure did not include public funds used to turn around two crisis-hit banks in the northwestern Veneto region.

Italy's high public debt is considered one of the elements hampering its tepid economic recovery and ability to attract foreign investments.

The Mediterranean country is the third-largest eurozone economy but is having a hard time recovering from the global economic crisis of 2007-2008. Enditem