Italy improving, cut debt - Dombrovskis (3)

(ANSA) - Brussels, November 21 - Italy's economic situation is "slowly improving but it is important to put public debt on a downward track," European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said in an exclusive interview with ANSA Tuesday. He said the economy would grow this year and next but growth "remains below the EU average". Debt "remains a source of vulnerability" and deprives the country of 3.8% of GDP in 2017 alone for debt servicing, he said.
    Dombrovskis said that "Italian debt is a great cost for the economy". He said "at the moment we are living in an environment of low interest rates, but if there is a change in monetary policy, if inflation rises again, this adds to the costs and may be a source of instability. "Therefore it is important to use this economic situation to start bringing the debt down". Dombrovskis went on to say that low growth and scant productivity are a "structural problem" that Italy is tackling with reforms. And yet, he said, "if we compare the experiences of other countries strongly hit by the crisis like Ireland, Spain, the Baltic States, who are engaged in an ambitious reform agenda too, at the moment they are among the economies growing most quickly", unlike Italy which is below the EU average.