Italy's PM seeks EU fiscal forbearance to revive growth
Reuters
Published Sep 11, 2019 07:58AM ET
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union should give Italy more time to cut its debt and support a plan to reinvigorate investment in the country, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said after a meeting in Brussels with the president-designate of the European Commission.
"Our target is to reduce the debt," Conte told reporters. "But we want to do it through economic growth and investments," he said, adding that Italy would need "some time" to reach its fiscal targets and invest in the green economy, digitalization and the relaunch of its impoverished south.
Conte, on his first visit to Brussels after becoming the head of a government backed by the 5-star and Democratic Party, repeated calls for a lenient interpretation of EU fiscal rules. Past Italian governments made similar requests; some led to prolonged disputes with the European Union.
After Conte met the commission's president-designate, Ursula von der Leyen, an EU official said: "They had a good exchange about the new political situation in Italy. And also about migration and economics. No concrete results."
Get The News You Want
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.