Italian Deputy Prime Minister, leader of the Five-Star Movement, Luigi Di Maio reiterates today the government will not change its 2019 budget deficit target of 2.4% despite rejection by the European Commission. He added, “in the following weeks we’ll discuss our budget with the European Union and it will be possible to read out the details of our fiscal plan.”
He also tried to play down recent surge in German-Italian spread, which is a serious sign of investor nervousness. Di Maio said “Markets are not concerned about Italy not respecting the EU budget rules. Investors are worried about false storytelling according to which Italy wants to leave the euro and the European Union. That is not the case.”
