Beppe Grillo, the leader of the
anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, on Wednesday predicted that
Italy would need an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout by
the end of the year and said he doubted Premier Matteo Renzi
would stay in office until Christmas.
In a long entry in his popular blog, which gave life to
the Internet-based M5S in 2009, Grillo outlined why he believes
the government's budget forecasts are wrong and said he sees
dramatic consequences.
"A perfect storm awaits us in the autumn,"
comedian-turned-politician Grillo wrote.
"The forecasts go from an optimistic (?) budget adjustment
of 24 billion euros to a catastophic 40-billion one.
"Where will Renzie find the money? In our pockets," Grillo
added, using his nickname for Renzi that refers to supposed
similarities with the TV character Fonzie.
"In December the IMF will come with a panettone Christmas
cake (who knows if Renzie will eat it)".
Italy is still struggling to recover from its longest
postwar recession - the second downturn since the global
economic crisis started in 2008.
Grillo also predicted that Italy would endure a financial
crisis last year, but this did not occur.
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