Italy will use the margins of flexibility on fiscal rules "in the most efficient way possible, first of all to take into account the economic cycle, which is unfavourable, and then to intensify the process of structural reforms and for the role of co-financed investments at European level ”. Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said this today during the press conference at the end of Ecofin which took place in Brussels.
“WE WILL POUR THE EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES WITH THE EU COMMISSION”
"In the continuous and very constructive dialogue we have with the Commission - he added - we will make use of the so-called exceptional circumstances", which allow us to use the flexibility clauses in the application of the Stability Pact, namely "the still very deteriorated macroeconomic situation, the lack of nominal growth and above all the great effort of structural reforms”.
"THAT THE ITALIAN DEBT IS SUSTAINABLE IS UNDISPUTABLE"
Furthermore, with reference to some rumors circulating in the last few hours, the minister clarified some doubts: "The fact that there is, possibly, a report from the European Commission on the Italian public debt - he said - does not imply that there is a procedure infringement on the debt itself, but only that its sustainability is assessed, and the conditions necessary to ensure it. It is an incontrovertible thesis that the Italian debt is absolutely sustainable, and from 2016 the debt will begin to fall. It is the Commission itself which, in its analyses, places the Italian debt among the most sustainable, in particular thanks to the repeated pension reforms”.
“SLOWING DOWN REFORMS AFTER QE? NO, WE ACCELERATE"
Meanwhile, "the macroeconomic picture is improving for exogenous reasons", with the drop in the price of oil and the euro, and with the quantitative easing of the ECB, "which takes us away from the risk of deflation", but all this - according to Padoan, spoke to the microphones of Sky TG 24 – does not mean that Italy will feel authorized to slow down with the reforms, as the governor of the Bundesbank, Jens Weidmann, had feared last week. On the contrary, for the head of the Treasury this is "the time to accelerate", bridging "the accumulated delays with other European countries. As the premier says, we are putting the turbo on”.
“THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE GREEK DEBT IS IN EVERYONE'S INTEREST”
As for Greece, which after Syriza's victory is preparing to re-discuss the terms of the agreement with the Troika, with the aim of intervening on its public debt, Padoan believes that it is "a shared sentiment to find a shared solution" , because “it is in everyone's interest that Athens remain in Europe. It is clear that Greek debt sustainability is part of a sustainable plan for Greece to return to growth and debt relief. We'll all talk about it together."
“ME AT THE HILL? AN HONOR, BUT I HAVE ALREADY TO DO…”
Finally, with regard to some rumors that would like him to be among the most popular for the Presidency of the Republic, Padoan limited himself to a joke: "I think it is a great honor to be considered for this position, but I would like to remind you that I am the Minister of Economy. And that I have so much to do already like this”.
