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European Commission Scraps Excessive Deficit Procedure for Italy

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The excessive deficit procedure for Italy over its high debt is no longer needed, Pierre Moscovici, the European commissioner in charge of economic and financial affairs, said Wednesday.
Sputnik

"The commission has concluded that the debt-based excessive deficit procedure for Italy is no longer warranted at this stage", Moscovici told a press conference. "We will need to continue to monitor Italy's budgetary execution very closely in the second half of this year. We will also need to assess very carefully Italy's draft budget plan for 2020, which must reach us by 15 October".

Earlier in May, Brussels delayed a disciplinary process against Rome ober Italy's refusal to comply with the EU fiscal rules.

The bloc insisted that Italy should increase taxes and also cut spending to improve its public finances, but allowed the country to to run a budget deficit above the bloc's recommended threshold to stimulate economic growth after Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, warned he could quit the Italian cabinet.

The row started as, according to the EU fiscal rules, member states must reduce their public debt every year keeping it below the ceiling of 60 per cent of the GDP, while Italy's debt burden has risen to 132 per cent of GDP in 2018 and is expected to rise to 135 percent in 2020.

 

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