Italian Finance Minister: Election may strengthen reform resolve
There are big questions about who the next leader of Italy will be, after Prime Minister Mario Monti announced plans to resign after next year’s budget is passed. And to add further intrigue to the situation, former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is back in the political mix.
All of this uncertainty comes as the the country’s leaders try to reassure global markets that Italy is moving in the right direction economically. Italian Finance Minister Vittorio Grilli, who recently visited New York and Washington to do just that, spoke with Marketplace Morning Report host Jeremy Hobson about Italy’s economic stability and the country’s political future.
While Grilli notes that the country’s level of debt compared to its GDP is a “major weakness,” he believes Italy is financially stable and taking steps to improve its economic situation.
Despite uncertainty about who will succeed Prime Minister Monti, Grilli says an election might actually help the country’s reform efforts.
“Our reform agenda is certainly not finished, [it] actually needs to be continued and to be deepened,” he says. “[The] next government will need a strong electoral mandate to keep pushing through these major reforms.”
As for the fate of the euro, Grilli says he’s confident the economic alliance will move forward together.
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