Debt reduction 'unavoidable' says Visco

(ANSA) - Rome, May 30 - Cutting Italy's huge debt is "unavoidable", said Bank of Italy Governor Ignazio Visco in a general meeting in Rome on Friday.
    "The reduction in the ratio of debt to GDP remains the unavoidable challenge for our country: its speed depends on the return to a stable and sustained growth", said Visco.
    Italy's debt-to-GDP ratio is the second largest in the euro zone next to Greece, at approximately 133%. Visco added that "significant results" have been achieved and "we are close to a structural balance of public finances." According to national statistics agency ISTAT reports in early May, the country's GDP dropped 0.1% between January and March compared with the same quarter in 2013.