Italian Economy and Finance Minister Giovanni Tria expressed confidence on Tuesday that Rome would be able to reach an agreement with Brussels on Italy's ever-growing public debt, which has already prompted the European Union to warrant disciplinary proceedings against the country
ROME (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th June, 2019) Italian Economy and Finance Minister Giovanni Tria expressed confidence on Tuesday that Rome would be able to reach an agreement with Brussels on Italy's ever-growing public debt, which has already prompted the European Union to warrant disciplinary proceedings against the country.The European Commission concluded earlier in June that Italy had breached EU fiscal rules because of its growing public debt and authorized a debt-based disciplinary procedure, which is designed to force an EU member to adjust its debt in line with the bloc's regulations or potentially face penalties.
"We believe that Italy fully complies with the European budget rules. I am optimistic about the [EU disciplinary] procedure. I see no obstacles to [reaching] an agreement with the European Union. For a zero-growth economy, a 2.1 percent [budget] deficit goal shows that [Rome's] fiscal policy is more than cautious. We are moving toward this deficit level," Tria said at the Tor Vergata University of Rome.
EU limits stipulate that a member's budget deficit must not exceed 3 percent of the national GDP and that its public debt must be below 60 percent of its GDP.
Italy had a 132 percent debt-to-GDP ratio in 2018, with the country's public debt reaching a record 2.73 trillion Euros ($3.1 trillion) in April.
