In those years the deterioration in the primary surplus, which declined from almost 4 to less than 1 per cent, corresponded with the interruption of the gradual reduction of the debt to GDP ratio, which was substantially unchanged at just over 100 per cent after falling by 12 percentage points in the previous six years.
7  See the speech by the Governor of the Bank of Italy, Ignazio Visco, delivered at the 2018 World Savings Day organised by the Associazione di Fondazioni e di Casse di Risparmio SpA, Rome, 31 October 2018. 15  When the financial crisis struck, the already high deficit and debt reduced the room for manoeuvre of fiscal policy, hindering its full anticyclical deployment.