Italy aims to raise an amount equivalent to at least 1% of gross domestic product (GDP), or about 21 billion euros ($22.2 billion), by selling assets between 2024 and 2026, the finance ministry said in its economic and financial report, Reuters reported . .

The plan is part of Prime Minister Georgia Maloney’s efforts to rein in the eurozone’s second-highest public debt relative to GDP as investors keep a close eye on Rome’s public finances.

Italy’s debt-to-GDP ratio is set to fall to 139.6% in 2026 from 140.2% this year.

The new targets take into account proceeds from asset sales expected over the next three years, DEF said, noting that without plans to sell, the debt burden is likely to increase.

Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti noted in the document that the companies that are subject to privatization obligations agreed with the European Commission will participate in the sale of stakes.

This is a reference to the Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) bank, which was bailed out in 2017 at a cost of €5.4 billion to taxpayers.

The Treasury is expected to hire advisers for the bank’s reprivatisation process, bankers said, although Giorgetti downplayed the prospect of quick action, saying the government did not need the cash urgently.

In addition, Italy will sell shares in companies where the Treasury’s involvement “exceeds what is necessary to maintain proper coherence and unity of strategic direction,” Giorgetti added, without providing further details.

However, the Italian government has a history of missing privatization targets even before the COVID-19 pandemic, which triggered a long period of expansionary fiscal policy that has yet to end.

In 2018, then-prime minister Giuseppe Conte promised to raise about 18 billion euros from asset sales by the end of next year to help reduce debt and reassure investors, but that plan has not materialized.