German magazine Der Spiegel reported that a top EU official confirmed Italy’s budget doesn’t meet EU guidelines. Günther Oettinger, European Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources Günther Oettinger, was quoted saying that “it confirmed the suspicion that the Italian budget draft for 2019 is not in line with the obligations that exist in the EU.” European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Pierre Moscovici, is going to send a letter to Italy this week regarding the issue.
Separately, Italy’s cabinet undersecretary for regional affairs, Stefano Buffagni, told Radio capital that if European Commission is to start an infraction process over the budget, Primer minister Giuseppe Conte is going to the EU to explain the “motivations” behind the plan. He also added that credit rating downgrade “can’t be excluded and we must be ready” even though “Italy has very solid economic fundamentals.
S&P and Moody’s are both going to review Italy’s rating later this month.
