Italian budget: Di Maio open to cutting deficit

Italian budget: Di Maio open to cutting deficit

Luigi Di Maio gestures during a press conference on November 9, 2018 in Rome. Photo: Tiziana Fabi / AFP Italy’s populist government appeared open Monday to reducing its draft budget deficit, boosting stocks in Milan on hopes Rome could ease a stand-off with EU officials in Brussels.

The European Commission has rejected the draft budget because it sharply increases spending and the deficit — to 2.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) from the previous government’s 0.8 percent, which would add to Italy’s already massive mountain of debt.

"If, during the negotiating process, the deficit has to be reduced a bit, […]

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