ECB Member Says Italy Should Stick to the Stability and Growth Pact

Italy should stick to its promises and respect Europea’s fiscal rules, a member of the European Central Bank told CNBC on Thursday.

The comments from Olli Rehn, governor of the Bank of Finland and member of the ECB governing council, came as Rome is preparing its future spending plans.

“It would be very much appreciated if Italy were able to stick to its promises and stick to its commitments as regards the stability and the growth pact — the set of European fiscal rules — because we all live in the euro area and every member state is expected to respect the rules,” Rehn told CNBC’s Annette Weisbach in Helsinki.

The Italian government sparked further tensions with its European counterparts last week after announcing that it is to increase spending in 2019, meaning that public deficit will reach 2.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

The previous government in Rome had told the European institutions that Italy’s deficit would be 0.8 percent in 2019.

via CNBC

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