Dip into deficit to keep pledges-Di Maio

(ANSA) - Chegndu, September 19 - Deputy Premier and Labour and Industry Minister Luigi Di Maio said Wednesday that the government was set to allow Italy's budget deficit to go up in order to cover its key pledges. "We cannot wait two or three years to keep the promises," 5-Star Movement (M5S) leader Di Maio said during a visit to China.
    "And that's why the deficit will be dipped into a little, with a return to the (path of reducing) debt in a year or two.
    "This is our intention, keeping the accounts in order, without approving a destructive budget for the economy". Di Maio said that the government will not breach the EU's 3% limit, although Italy's official deficit target is much lower than that, at 1.6%.
    He shrugged off concerns about the reaction of the financial markets to Italy's budget plans.
    "We shouldn't put the aim of reassuring the markets at the centre, but a budget law that improves the lives of Italian citizens," Di Maio said. "That's why we stood and that's why we were voted for. "The money is there. It is necessary to modulate the deficit to satisfy the needs of the Italian people.
    "That is a job we are doing".