This calculator lets you see how Italy's public debt will develop over the next five years.

Users can adjust three key variables: average interest rates paid by the Italian state on its public debt, the average primary budget surplus as a percentage of gross domestic product, and average annual growth in nominal Italian GDP.

Initial inputs are based on Italian government estimates for 2017. The calculator assumes these variables remain constant over the next five years.

The starting point is the Italian government’s estimate of a debt-to-GDP ratio of 132 percent for 2017, the second-highest in the euro zone behind Greece.

The output shows whether that ratio will be higher or lower by 2022. A rising ratio is harder to get under control.

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