Spending Money: Italy on the mend, says Renzi

ROME: Italy is on the mend and will have an extra €17 billion to spend next year after winning its battle for greater flexibility on EU deficit rules, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said on Saturday. Renzi, who is preparing tax and spending cuts for a 2016 budget due to be unveiled in October, said the Eurozone’s third-biggest economy was finally set to accelerate after years of stagnation or worse. “I say it without any problem and based on the figures that Italy has turned the corner, full stop”. Renzi said in an interview. “The economy is taking off and spending is growing. Something is changing.” Renzi’s bullish comments follow recent encouraging economic data, including falling unemployment, an unexpectedly high 2.7% jump in industrial output in July and a spike in mortgage applications in the first seven months of the year. The premier said the data would likely mean upwards revisions to the government’s forecasts of 0.7% growth this year and 1.4% in 2016.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 13^th, 2015.

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