Italy's big public debt was down slightly in July but remains close to the 3,000-billion-euros mark, the Bank of Italy said on Monday. It said the national debt decreased by 1.1 billion compared June, taking it to 2,946.6 billion euros. The central bank said that in July "the cash surplus of the general government (1.9 billion) more than offset the effect of issuance and redemption discounts and premiums, the revaluation of inflation-indexed securities, and the change in exchange rates (which altogether increased the debt by 0.8 billion). "The Treasury's liquid assets remained essentially unchanged from the previous month (at EUR 45.4 billion)," it added. Source: Ansa News Agency