“The German government is aware of the ambitious reform project of the Italian government. Certainly Matteo Renzi he will explain it to the chancellor and they will talk about it together". Thus spoke Steffen Seibert, spokesman for the German chancellor Angela Merkel, responding at a press conference to a question on the economic measures announced two days ago by the Italian Prime Minister.
Tomorrow Renzi will be in Paris to meet the number one of the Elysée, Francois Hollande, while on Monday he will fly to Berlin, where he will be received by Merkel. The first objective of the international mini-tour is to obtain the blessing of the two major leaders of the Eurozone for the measures that the Executive in Rome intends to launch in the coming months.
At the center of attention are naturally the financial coverage of the various reforms and, above all, the possibility that our country ends 2014 with a deficit higher than the 2,6% forecast, but still lower than the 3% limit established by European rules.
On Wednesday, the Treasury Secretary Pier Carlo Padoan, tried to reassure Brussels: “We will use the debt margins as sparingly as possible – he said -. Concern about the debt-to-GDP ratio is at the heart of everything we do", but to reduce it, it is first of all necessary to "increase the growth rate" and enact measures "such as privatisations".
Renzi himself confirmed that "the Italian Government will respect all the commitments it has with Europe", but he also added that "the greatest commitment is to change to bring Europe back close to its citizens".
In detail, if our country were to increase the 2014 deficit from 2,6 to 3%, it would have an additional six billion euros available which – together with the three billion billed by Carlo Cottarelli for the spending review and the 2,4 billion linked to the lower interest expense on debt after the spread decline – would contribute decisively to the 10 billion Irpef cut promised by the government. On the other hand, the coverage should also include the higher VAT revenue produced by the payment of the public administration's debts to businesses.
The Premier has linked his own political credibility to the tax reduction: "If the money doesn't arrive on May 27 - he said -, it means that Matteo Renzi is a buffoon".
Meanwhile, the first signs of nervousness have already arrived from Europe. There European Commission “welcomes positively the intention to reduce the tax wedge through resources obtained from the spending review – underlined yesterday Sinmon O'Connor, spokesman for the European Commissioner for Economic Affairs Olli Rehn -. However, we recall Italy's commitment to comply with the Stability and Growth Pact”, which plans to achieve a balanced structural budget in the medium term, especially in consideration of “the high Italian public debt”.
Also from the ECB arrived 24 hours ago clear warning. In their latest bulletin, Eurotower economists write that Italy "has not made tangible progress so far" on additional measures to further reduce the deficit, a goal set by the European Commission in recommendations published last November.
