The European Commission
is inclined to allow Italy to have a deficit of "at least 2.3%"
of GDP for 2017, after taking account of its spending following
the August earthquake and the expenditure required to tackle the
asylum-seeker crisis, source close to the negotiations said on
Tuesday.
The target deficit for next year was meant to be 1.8%.
The concession of 0.5 of a percentage point is the
equivalent of around eight billion euros in the budget.
The European Commission is engaged in "positive dialogue"
with Italy over the 2017 budget deficit and "we are trying to
narrow the gap" between what Italy wants and what the EC is
willing to concede, European Economic Affairs Commissioner
Pierre Moscovici said Tuesday.
He said he hoped that the government's economic blueprint,
the Economic and Financial Document (DEF), would help" reduce
this gap so that we can reconcile flexibility and rules".
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