https://sputnikglobe.com/20181018/kurz-austria-italy-budget-1069010951.html
Kurz on Rome's Draft Budget: Austria Will Not Pay Someone Else's Debts
Kurz on Rome's Draft Budget: Austria Will Not Pay Someone Else's Debts
Sputnik International
VIENNA (Sputnik) - Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said Thursday, commenting on Italy's 2019 draft budget, that Vienna had no intention to be accountable... 18.10.2018, Sputnik International
2018-10-18T21:15+0000
2018-10-18T21:15+0000
2022-10-17T19:46+0000
https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/105830/89/1058308920_0:160:3073:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_2d9bbf97d0598b0a0a7b1df00e58f3bd.jpg
austria
italy
Sputnik International
feedback@sputniknews.com
+74956456601
MIA „Rossiya Segodnya“
2018
Sputnik International
feedback@sputniknews.com
+74956456601
MIA „Rossiya Segodnya“
News
en_EN
Sputnik International
feedback@sputniknews.com
+74956456601
MIA „Rossiya Segodnya“
Sputnik International
feedback@sputniknews.com
+74956456601
MIA „Rossiya Segodnya“
europe, newsfeed, austria, italy, sebastian kurz
europe, newsfeed, austria, italy, sebastian kurz
Kurz on Rome's Draft Budget: Austria Will Not Pay Someone Else's Debts
21:15 GMT 18.10.2018 (Updated: 19:46 GMT 17.10.2022) VIENNA (Sputnik) - Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said Thursday, commenting on Italy's 2019 draft budget, that Vienna had no intention to be accountable for someone else's debts and called on Rome to respect the euro convergence criteria, or the Maastricht criteria.
On Monday, Italy submitted its draft budget to the European Union. The proposed budget deficit of 2.4 percent of GDP is underneath the EU-mandated 3-percent threshold, but another criterion stipulates that EU members should keep its debt-to-GDP level below 60 percent and make efforts to cut debt, if it is above the limit. Italy's debt-to-GDP ratio has been around 132 percent over the past four years, the highest in Europe after Greece. By June, the country's debt grew to an all-time high above 2.3 trillion euros ($2.64 trillion).
10 September 2018, 11:15 GMT
READ MORE: Radical Alternative: Austria, Italy Propose Migrant Processing at Sea
"We expect the Italian government to respect the rules. The Maastricht criteria are binding on all, including Italy. That is why we can hardly understand the draft budget that Italy submitted to the European Union. We, in Austria, definitely will not pay someone else's debts," Kurz stressed following the EU summit in Brussels.
He added that not only Austria expected Italy to comply with the Maastricht criteria, adding that "many other EU countries see it that way."
Kurz also revealed his plans to discuss the issue with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.
