“Debt relief can no longer be done through taxes.” Prime Minister Mario Monti said this from the stage in Davos, where the World Economic Forum is underway and where he has his last major international showcase before the elections.
Mine is an ambitious agenda, he said, but we all have a social responsibility and I decided to stand in the elections because I owe it to the Italians and in particular to the "most fragile, those who have paid the highest and intolerable price of unemployment, especially young people, and of deprivation. Citizens, who are "victims of governments that have often not been strong enough against tax evasion, corruption, special interests, financial market manipulations”, victims of politicians who "often committed themselves to electoral promises without considering whether or not they were achievable" and in doing so often aggravated the crisis because, too focused on national elections, they did not consider the urgency of reforms and on the contrary " fueled nationalism and populism”.
Monti also commented on the growth estimates released by the International Monetary Fund in the afternoon. The Fund has cut its growth estimates for Italy: GDP is expected to drop by 1% in 2013, 0,3 points more than estimated in October. The estimate for 2014 remains unchanged, at +0,5%. “Although the IMF delivers “still negative data” for 2012, it is demonstrated that the government's action “for the consolidation of the Italian economy is continuing and the GDP figures in the third quarter of 2012 were better than expected, as underlined by the Monetary Fund itself,” Monti noted.
The IMF's analysis, Monti added, “pushes us even more strongly to focus immediately, both at national and European level, on economic recovery and employment; taking into account that the implemented reforms need time to show their positive effects”. For Monti today the atmosphere towards Italy has changed: "I have not only felt your kindness - she said - but also respect and trust in stability".
Finally on the UK question, the prime minister said he was confident that in the event of a referendum, the country will decide to stay in Europe and "share the future with us".
