36 Despite the high debt-to-GDP ratio – partly a legacy of the crisis – an increase in yields under orderly conditions would not put the sustainability of public finances at risk.
After increasing by 30 percentage points since the onset of the crisis, over the last few years the debtto-GDP ratio has remained essentially stable thanks to the improvement in growth and to the primary surpluses. Furthermore, the high average residual maturity – more than 7 years – significantly tempers the sensitivity of the cost of debt to interest rate shocks.