Bank of Italy: debt increases to 2,905.7 billion in April
Last April the debt of the general government is increased by 11.5 billion compared to the previous month, amounting to 2,905.7 billion. ISTAT reports this. The needs of the public administrations (17.0 billion) more than compensated for the reduction in the Treasury’s liquid assets (6.5 billion, to 32.1). The effect of discounts and premiums on issuance and redemption, the revaluation of inflation-indexed securities and changes in exchange rates increased the debt by 1.0 billion.
With reference to the breakdown by sub-sector, the entire increase in debt is due to the central administrations, while that of both the local administrations and that of the social security institutions has remained substantially stable. The average residual life of the debt remained stable at 7.8 years. In April, the share of debt held by the Bank of Italy decreased slightly (to 23.5 percent from 23.7 percent in the previous month), while in March (the last month for which this data is available) those held by non-residents and other residents (mainly families and non-financial businesses) stood at 28.7 and 14.1 percent respectively (from 28.3 and 13.6 percent in the previous month).
Bank of Italy, recorded tax revenues rise to 40.6 billion
In April, tax revenues accounted for in the state budget amounted to 40.6 billion, an increase of 5.0 percent (1.9 billion) compared to the corresponding month of 2023. This was reported by Bank of Italy. In the first four months of 2024, tax revenues amounted to 163.5 billionup 7.1 percent (10.8 billion) compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.
Foreign trade: April surplus at 4.8 billion, exports +7.9% on year
The trade balance in April amounted to +4.807 billion euros (it was +362 million in April 2023). The energy deficit (-3.787 billion) is reduced compared to a year earlier (-5.730 billion). The surplus in the trade of non-energy products rises from 6.092 billion in April 2023 to 8.595 billion in April. This was revealed by Istat which estimates a cyclical growth in April for exports (+2.3%) and a reduction for imports (-1.1%). The monthly increase in exports is greater for countries in the non-EU area (+3.8%), compared to those in the EU area (+0.8%). Exports increase on an annual basis by 10.7% in monetary terms and by 7.9% in volume. The growth of exports in value is more sustained for non-EU markets (+13.6%) compared to EU ones (+8.2%). Imports recorded a relatively limited trend growth in value (+1.4%), the synthesis of an increase in the EU area (+5.4%) and a contraction in the non-EU area (-3.5%) ; in volume, imports increased by 2.5%.
Among the sectors that contribute most to the trend growth in exports are: pharmaceutical, chemical-medicinal and botanical articles (+50.7%), sporting goods, games, musical instruments, jewellery, medical instruments and other products not classified elsewhere (nec) (+53.6%), food products, drinks and tobacco (+19.3%), machinery and equipment nec (+8.9%). Exports of motor vehicles (-15.6%) and means of transport, excluding motor vehicles (-5.7%), decreased on an annual basis. The cyclical growth in exports (+2.3%), explains Istat, “is driven above all by sales to the non-EU area of non-durable consumer goods and capital goods (in particular, maritime navigation equipment) . On an annual basis, the growth involves almost all the main trading partner countries, both EU and non-EU, including Germanya, after a year of uninterrupted decline”. On an annual basis, the countries that provide the greatest contributions to the increase in national exports are: United Kingdom (+42.3%), Turkey (+70.6%), Spain (+12.7%), Belgium (+20.2%), France (+5.2%) and OPEC countries (+18.2%).
Exports to Switzerland (-6.5%) and Austria (-8.0%) decline. Imports decrease on a monthly basis for all groups, except for consumer goods, while they start to grow again on an annual basis; its trend growth, extended to various sectors, is slowed down by lower purchases of energy raw materials. In the February-April quarter, compared to the previous one, exports increased by 1.9%, imports by 0.7%. In the first four months of 2024, exports are almost stationary in trend terms (+0.3%). The sectors that contribute most to supporting national exports are sporting goods, games, musical instruments, jewellery, medical instruments and other nec products (+28.6%) and food, beverages and tobacco (+10.4%); on the contrary, those that provide the largest negative contributions are base metals and metal products, excluding machinery and plants (-9.4%) and leather goods, excluding clothing, and similar (-7.9%) . In the first four months of 2024, the trade balance is positive for 17.6 billion (it was +1.5 billion in the same period of 2023). In April, import prices increased by 0.8% compared to the previous month, while they fell by 1.8% on an annual basis (it was -3.5% in March). These dynamics are still mainly explained by increases in the prices of intermediate goods and energy (above all, crude oil and natural gas).
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