Plans for reform the European
Stability Mechanism are causing turmoil within Premier Giuseppe
Conte's government with Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio saying
Wednesday that an overhaul of the eurozone's bailout fund that
punishes Italy must be averted.
"A reform of the ESM that crushes Italy is not feasible,"
5-Star Movement (M5S) leader Di Maio told Wednesday's Corriere
della Sera.
The EU is set to sign off next month on a reform that would
make the ESM more akin to the IMF, with support for States in
financial difficulty made conditional on debt restructuring.
Italy is considered by experts to be vulnerable to market
turbulence due to its huge public debt of over 2,000 billion
euros.
The reform was agreed by European finance ministers in June.
At the time, Giovanni Tria was Italy's economy minister under
Conte's first government, which was backed by the 5-Star
Movement (M5S) and the League.
Since then Roberto Gaultieri of the Democratic Party has
replaced Tria after a new coalition was formed following League
leader Salvini's decision to pull the plug on the first Conte
government in August.
Conte is reportedly aiming to postpone the overhaul, sources
said.
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