Italy's public sector borrowing requirement (PSBR) in the first four months of the year amounted to 31 billion euros, down some 2.7 billion euros from the same period in 2007, the economy ministry said on Friday.
The PSBR in April, however, hit 10.5 billion euros as opposed to 9.5 billion a year earlier.
This was due to a slow down in tax revenue, after months of increases, and a rise ion public spending, the ministry explained.
