Government debt stood at 70.3 per cent of GDP at the end of the first quarter this year, down from 72.3 per cent in the same quarter in 2014.

According Eurostat figures released yesterday, debt-to-GDP ratio in the euro area rose from 91.9 per cent to 92.9 per cent, when compared with the first quarter of 2014, and from 86.2 per cent to 88.2 per cent across the EU.

The highest ratios were recorded in Greece (168.8 per cent), Italy (135.1 per cent) and Portugal (129.6 per cent) and the lowest in Estonia (10.5 per cent), Luxembourg (21.6 per cent) and Bulgaria (29.6 per cent).

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