ATHENS/ ROME – Greece ?will no longer be the eurozone’s most indebted country by the end of this year, with its public debt set to fall below Italy’s, according to sources and data from ?Italy’s new budget plan.
Greek debt is estimated to ?be ?reduced to about 137% of gross domestic ?product this year from 145% in 2025, two senior officials said.
By contrast, Italy sees its debt rising ?from 137.1% of GDP in 2025 to 138.6% in 2026, under ?the Treasury’s multi-year budget plan (DFP) published on Thursday.
“Greece will not be the most indebted country ?in the eurozone —?from ?this year,“?one of the two Greek officials said.
The new estimate for ?Greece’s debt ratio ?will be included in the country’s new ?multi-year fiscal plan that will be submitted to ?the ?European Commission at the end of this month.
Italy’s debt will remain virtually stable at 138.5% in 2027, before declining to 137.9% in 2028 and to ?136.3% the following year, its budget plan showed.
Since 2020, Greece’s public debt —?the highest in the eurozone over the last two decades —?has shrunk by more than ?45 percentage ?points to 145% of gross domestic product ?last year. Italy cut its debt by some 17 ?percentage points over the same period.
Greece, which is recovering from a decadelong financial crisis and three bailouts totalling about 280 billion euros, plans to repay ahead of ?schedule loans worth some 7 billion euros from its first bailout later in the year.?
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