European Economic Affairs
Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said Thursday that Italy's effort
to improve its finances in structural terms amounted to "zero"
in 2018.
"These are facts that emerge from our forecasts and we can
draw conclusions in terms of the surveillance of accounts,"
Moscovici said when asked about the Commission's request for a
0.3% deficit reduction.
"But this is not a lesson for today. We'll talk about it in
the spring package (on May 23)".
Italy's economy ministry said, meanwhile, that it expects
time to show that the country's public accounts for 2018 comply
with European rules.
The ministry said that, in its opinion, "the definitive
accounts for 2018, which it will only be possible to appreciate
in spring 2019, will prove to be in line with the European
rules".
"The structural deficit will remain unchanged between 2017
and 2018, according to the Commission's estimates, while the
government has estimated a reduction of one tenth of a
percentage point in 2018, starting from a 2017 balance that was
better than in previous estimates".
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