“Italy’s banks are indeed troubled; their non-performing loans amount to more than 200 billion euros (about $218 billion), and Monte dei Paschi had an extremely weak balance sheet long before a 2013 derivatives scandal dealt it another blow. But those non-performing loans have been growing ever since 2008, and that growth has slowed of late,” adds MarketWatch.
Excluding unfunded pension, healthcare costs and Eurozone bailout payments, Italian total real economic debt is 259% of gross domestic product, up 55% since 2007. Italy’s budget deficit is 2.9%, with government debt at 132% of GDP.
iShares MSCI Italy Capped ETF
