Italy should “calm down with the tone” and re-establish trust in the euro to quiet down the markets, European Central Bank’s President Mario Draghi said today.
Draghi, speaking at a news conference at the International Monetary Fund’s annual meeting in Bali, Indonesia, had a stern message for Italy’s political leaders. “A budgetary expansion in a high debt country becomes much more complicated … if people start to put in question the euro,” he said, according to Reuters.
“The very first thing [to do] is to calm down with the tone. And then the second thing is we have to wait for the facts,” he said.
The Italian government is in the midst of a reform of the country’s budget targets. Its plan exceeds EU limits on public spending.
A leading member of the ruling League party earlier this month suggested the country should consider leaving the euro — a statement that caused Italian bond yields to rise quickly.
On Monday, EU governments are due to send their draft budgetary plans for 2019 to the Commission, which will scrutinize the numbers to see if they comply with the rules.