Italy's public debt grew to 120.1 percent of GDP in 2011, Dow Jones reports. The level of debt was only 0.1 percentage point below the record level recorded in 1996.

At the same time, the budget deficit amounted to 3.9 percent of GDP, decreasing compared to the previous year. The economy itself grew by 0.4 percent at the end of the year, which turned out to be lower than the official forecast of 0.6 percent. According to Agence France-Presse , in the third and fourth quarters there was a decline in GDP of 0.3 and 0.7 percent, respectively, so that the country entered a technical recession.

According to the 2012 budget, as amended to include spending cuts, the deficit should be zero, which will reduce pressure on government debt rates. On the other hand, a reduction in spending will affect the situation in the economy as a whole.

In the summer of 2011, Italy became one of the countries that found itself at the epicenter of the European debt crisis. As a result of investor panic, rates on the country's bonds reached a level of 7 percent per annum, which foreshadowed an imminent default. Thanks to the efforts of the government of Mario Monti, as well as the European Commission and the ECB, the situation with the increase in yield on obligations was stabilized by the end of the year.

In terms of debt-to-GDP ratio, Italy ranks one of the last in the G20 countries. This compares to 100 percent for the United States, 82 percent for Germany, and 53 percent of GDP for India.

Italy's debt exceeded 120 percent of GDP