Italy has a record public debt of €1.813 trillion, an increase of 0.8% in a month, the Bank of Italy warned today, three weeks after the government there acted to cut overspending.
In March, the figure stood at €1.797 trillion, 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% of GDP, and it is forecast to rise to 118.4% this year.
In a bid to clean up public finances and reassure the markets, the government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi last month approved an austerity package totalling €24.9 billion for 2011 and 2012.
The measures are expected to bring the deficit's percentage of GDP down to 2.7% in 2012 - within the 3% required by the European Union - from the current 5.3%.
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%.
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% from 2%. The government expects output to grow by 1% this year and by 2% in 2012.
The public debt last spiked in October 2009, when it stood at €1.802 trillion.
Unlike Spain, Portugal, Greece and Ireland, which have all been forced to take drastic austerity measures to put their public finances in order, Italy has largely kept its budget deficit under control during the crisis.
