AFP, Rome :
European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker called on Tuesday for “extra efforts” from Italy’s populist government to keep the increasingly stagnant economy growing, after talks with Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.
“I’m a little worried to see the Italian economy continuing to regress. I would like the Italian authorities to make extra efforts to keep economic growth alive,” Juncker told journalists alongside Conte.
The budget agreed late last year between Rome and Brussels predicted one percent growth for 2019, but “we know today that this figure must be revised down,” Juncker said.
Economy Minister Giovanni Tria on Sunday warned that Italy was headed for zero economic growth this year, while brushing off possible changes to the government’s big-spending budget.
Italy’s central bank and the International Monetary Fund have both estimated that the eurozone’s third-largest economy would expand by a meagre 0.6 percent this year, while the European Commission was more pessimistic, pencilling growth of just 0.2 percent.
Italy’s public debt now sits at 2.3 trillion euros ($2.6 trillion), or 131 percent of Italy’s GDP – way above the 60 percent EU ceiling.
“Given Italy’s heavy debt level, all policies revolving around the notion of relaunching the economy will have limited effect,” Juncker said.
