New record for public debt, which reached €2,872.4 billion in February, an increase of €22.9 billion compared to January, according to data released by the Bank of Italy. That is to say that every Italian, including newborns, has an average debt burden of about €48,700. The increase in public debt is attributable almost entirely to central governments while the locali debt and that of social security institutions remained almost unchanged from January, as did the average remaining life of government bonds, which stands at 7.9 years. As for the breakdown of government debt securities, at the end of February the share held by the Bank of Italy fell slightly, to 24% while that in the hands of non-Italian residents was 27.9%. The rest is in the hands of resident households, businesses and financial entities. Improving, however, is the trend in tax revenues. In February, they totaled €39.4 billion, up 13.2% (+ €4.6 billion) compared to the same month in 2023. The Bank of Italy data thus confirm that the main problem of public finance remains debt.
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