Govt summit on budget 'heading for deal'

(ANSA) - Rome, September 27 - A government summit to iron out differences on how big the deficit-to-GDP ratio should be in the update to the DEF economic blueprint, essential for the 2019 budget, is heading for a deal despite recent tensions, sources said Thursday.
    Two hours into the meeting, League and 5-Star Movement sources said "the atmosphere is serene and a deal is in the offing".
    A "reasonable target" for the 2019 budget deficit-to-GDP ratio is 2.4-2.5%, League and 5-Star sources said as the summit on the DEF economic blueprint continued into Thursday evening.
    Premier Giuseppe Conte was joined by the two deputy premiers, Labour and Industry Minister Luigi Di Maio and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, leaders of the government partners the 5-Star Movement and the League, and by Economy Minister Giovanni Tria.
    Also present was European Affairs Minister Paolo Savona, a respected and controversial Euroskeptic economist.
    Tria and Savona briefly left the summit at around seven, which was adjourned until they came back.
    They left, along with economy ministry officials, to correct the tables of the DEF update, sources said.
    Tria has been under pressure to allow the deficit to rise from the initial DEF figure of 1.6% to 2.4-2.5% to fund a basic income, pension overhaul and flat tax.
    League Lower House whip Riccardo Molinari said earlier Thursday that Economy Minister Tria could be ditched amid reported tension over the 2019 budget law. "If Tria is no longer part of the (government's) project, we'll find another economy minister," Molinari told RAI television. Tria is reportedly resisting intense pressure from the League and its alliance partner, the 5-Star Movement (M5S), to draft a budget that would see Italy's deficit rise significantly, up to 2.4% of GDP, in order to finance the pledges in the contract of government. These include a 'citizenship wage' basic income, an overhaul of the pension system that would bring down the retirement age and a flat tax. Labour and Industry Minister and Deputy Premier Luigi Di Maio said Thursday that his M5S does not intend to call on Tria to quit. "No resignation request is planned," Di Maio told reporters in Brussels. He also denied reports that the presentation of the government's economic blueprint, the DEF, will be delayed saying a cabinet meeting will be held for this later on Thursday. "It will be a courageous budget of the people, which won't get hung up over one number or another," he added. Interior Minister and Deputy Premier Salvini said "absolutely yes" on Thursday when asked it is worth breaking the 2% mark for Italy's deficit-to-GDP ratio. "The right to work, to happiness of millions of Italian people is worth a few little numbers," League leader Salvini said during a visit to Tunis.