The trade and current-account deficits are large and rising, probably reflecting a loss of competitiveness and productivity relative to Germany and France, two of Italy’s largest trading partners. Moreover, economic growth has been slow for the past decade, and is not accelerating, which will make it difficult to lower the public-debt burden even with fiscal consolidation.
再融资现有债务的需要并非唯一的挑战。国内外债权人，特别是银行，已经出现了资本损失，资产负债表、资本充足率和信息都受到了损坏。意大利贸易和经常项目赤字巨大，且在不断攀升，这也许反映了意大利相对其两大贸易伙伴——德国和法国——竞争力下降的事实。此外，过去十年来意大利的经济增长一直很慢，而且看不到加速的迹象，这使得意大利即使实施了财政整合也很难降低公共债务负担。