Eurozone government debt climbs to 88.8% of GDP as Italy closes in on Greece - AOL.co.uk

Public debt across the 21 countries of the eurozone reached 88.8% of their combined economic output between April and June, up from 87.3% a year earlier, the EU's statistics office, Eurostat, said on Wednesday. Italy's debt ratio is now less than one percentage point below Greece's, while France's has climbed to 119.1% as its borrowing costs rose above 5% . The debt-to-GDP ratio compares what governments owe with the size of their economies. Under EU rules, debt should not exceed 60% of GDP, and annual budget deficits should not exceed 3%. Across the wider EU, government debt rose to 82.9% of GDP in the second quarter, from 81.4% a year earlier. In cash terms, eurozone governments owed some €14.4 trillion.