Tag Archives: Italian politics

The minor concessions continued in the revised plan presented to the European Commission are unlikely to dissuade Brussels from launching sanctions. In a letter to the European Commission on 13 November, the Italian government confirmed that it would aim for a budget deficit at 2.4% of GDP in 2019 and reasserted its real growth forecast of 1.5% for next year. Rome made only minor concessions to Brussels’ demand that it...

The minor concessions continued in the revised plan presented to the European Commission are unlikely to dissuade Brussels from launching sanctions.In a letter to the European Commission on 13 November, the Italian government confirmed that it would aim for a budget deficit at 2.4% of GDP in 2019 and reasserted its real growth forecast of 1.5% for next year. Rome made only minor concessions to Brussels’ demand that it revise its fiscal plan. It committed to raising its privatisation efforts...

Italy finally has a government, but its public finances are likely to be soon back in the spotlight.Following a spectacular U-turn, the Five Start Movement (MS5) and the League reached a deal to form a government under their original candidate for prime minister, Giuseppe Conte.Both parties agreed on a new finance minister, Giovanni Tria, while Paolo Savona, who was blocked by President Mattarella last Sunday, will be minister for EU affairs. M5S leader Di Maio will be minister for labour...

Fragmented politics and the risk of a financial crisis continue to hang over the country. This weekend, the Five Star Movement and the League decided to pull the plug on their attempt to form a coalition government after the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella vetoed the appointment of anti-euro professor Paolo Savona as minister of finance. Mattarella has granted ex-International Monetary Fund official, Carlo...

Fragmented politics and the risk of a financial crisis continue to hang over the country.This weekend, the Five Star Movement and the League decided to pull the plug on their attempt to form a coalition government after the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella vetoed the appointment of anti-euro professor Paolo Savona as minister of finance. Mattarella has granted ex-International Monetary Fund official, Carlo Cottarelli, a mandate to form a caretaker government. Should the caretaker...

Rejection of the government-backed constitutional referendum opens up a period of uncertainty for the Italian economy and financial system, but ECB’s continued dovishness will provide support.The Italian referendum on Senate reform was rejected on 4 December by a surprisingly wide margin (59% versus 41%) on high voter turnout. In the short run, the main risk is that rejection of the government-backed referendum will render a market-based recapitalisation of the Italian banking sector more...

A ‘No’ vote in the 4 December referendum would be seen as a negative by investors in Italy, adding to the challenges the country must face.The 4 December referendum on senate reform is the next big event on the European political calendar, coming just ahead of the next ECB and Fed policy meetings on 8 December and 14 December, respectively.We believe a ‘Yes’ vote would boost government confidence and marginally help Italian securities, but is unlikely to represent a significant game changer...

Stagnant growth and banks’ festering non-performing loan problems cast a pall over Italy’s prospects ahead of a referendum that could determine the fate of the prime minister Flat real GDP growth in Italy in the second quarter was below consensus expectations of 0.2% (quarter over quarter) and brought to an end five consecutive quarters of improving expansion. Overall, the outlook for Italy remains challenging. Assuming a pick-up in quarterly growth to 0.2% (the average since Q1 2015), the...