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At an increase of €119bn, Italy’s debt is now a major concern as the country heads to the polls this March.

The EU Commission, in the latest report yet on the sustainability of public debts in the Eurozone, warned that the country remains exposed to "unfavourable risks" by maintaining such a large sum of public debt compared to its GDP.

For Brussels, no EU country currently risks budgetary stress in the short term, but for Italy, Spain, France, Portugal and Belgium, the EU Commission sees "high risks for medium-term sustainability" on both indicators used to assess risk.

The report said: ”In these five countries there is a need for a significant budget adjustment to ensure medium-term sustainability by reaching the 60 percent debt target in 2032.”

Recent analysis from the former commissioner of the spending review, Carlo Cottarelli, showed that public debt could grow by another €55billion.