Italy Economy Minister Giovanni Tria said today that the coalition government is “busy drafting the answer to the European Commission with regards to the most contentious points of the budget.” Italy is requested to present a new or revised draft budget plan to the Commission by November 13. Despite the the requests, Tria told the parliament today that they will confirm the budget plan’s “Main pillar”. Tria reiterated the commitment to cap 2019 budget deficit at 2.4% of GDP. But based on the Commission’s projection released yesterday, Italy’s budget deficit would hit 2.9%.
European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis blasted Italy’s projections were based on “overly optimistic assumptions.” He added, “Basically the assumption is that if they … increase public spending, it will stimulate the economy and thus will help to reduce budget deficit. We see that this is actually not materializing.”
