The European Commission
said Tuesday in a report on Italy's macroeconomic imbalances
that the results of the government's ongoing structural reforms
and spending review were still uncertain.
Italy's drive to enact reforms has increased, but "progress
is uneven", with many measures "still waiting for full approval
or enabling decrees and therefore the results remain uncertain,"
the commission added in its report.
There were also "significant uncertainties" about the
government's review of public spending, said the commission.
The progress Italy makes in the next few months on
structural reforms will be "crucial" to the commission's
assessment of whether Rome is addressing the country's
macroeconomic imbalances, it said.
The government of Premier Matteo Renzi must guard against
"institutional bottlenecks" and "barriers" that may slow
implementation of reforms, said the report.
Yet reform is essential to deal with the country's massive
public debt of more than two trillion euros that weighs down
economic growth, it added.
"The very high debt is a big weight on the Italian economy,
a source of vulnerability in the current situation of inflation
and low growth," the report said.
"It is a brake on growth due to the high taxes needed to
service it".
Delays in Italy's plans to sell off stakes in State assets
are not helpful, the report said.
"The Italian privatization plan is suffering delays in its
implementation," the EC said.
"Aside from the announcement of the plan (for asset sales)
worth 0.7% of GDP in the 2014-17 period...limited information is
available about the quantity of stakes (to be sold), what
companies (they will be sold in), and under what timetable".
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
