(Bloomberg) -- Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said the European Union’s recovery package will help make the country’s debt sustainable.
Draghi, attending his first event after winning confidence votes in both houses of parliament, referred to the EU windfall at a judicial ceremony in Rome.
“For the first time in many years, the state can make significant investments with the only restriction that they be made well, meaning that they increase the growth of the country and therefore contribute also to making our debt sustainable,” Draghi said.
The former head of the European Central Bank said that at current levels “it is not interest rates that determine the sustainability of public debt, it is the growth rate of a country.”
The coronavirus pandemic has claimed more than 90,000 lives in Italy, trapped in the worst recession since World War II with debt at almost 160% of output.