European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said the Commission concluded that Italy’s debt criterion is not complied with and there fore a “debt-based excessive deficit procedure (EDP) is warranted”. EDP is not opened today yet. And EU member states will give their views on the report on Italy first. Then, economic and financial committee has two weeks to form its opinion. He added “it’s much more than just about the procedure, when we look at the Italian economy we see the damage that recent policy choices are doing.”
The Commission estimated that Italy used EUR 2.2B more than expected to service its debt in 2018. And it’s paying as much toward its debt servicing as it does toward its entire education system. Dombrovskis added “growth has come to almost a halt … and we now expect the Italian debt (to GDP) ratio to rise in 2019 and 2020 to over 135%.”
Earlier today, coalition League’s economic chief Claudio Borghi rejects fiscal tightening measures and warned that Economy Minister Giovanni Tria must take a “hard line on EU budget talks”.
