–Confident Future Italian Govts Will Continue Down Reform Path
FRANKFURT (MNI) – Italy’s aggressive reform pace is necessary to
correct decades of missed opportunities, Italian Finance Minister
Vittorio Grilli said in an interview published Tuesday with German daily
Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
Grilli, while insisting he will not stand for election next year
himself, said he is confident that any future government will carry on
the reform path set by Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti’s
administration, in part because of constitutional changes implemented to
limit deficit spending.
“We Italians long missed the opportunity to make our country
competitive,” Grilli told the paper. “Budget discipline is therefore
urgently necessary. And also the pace at which we are currently
reforming our country, is absolutely necessary.”
Grilli insisted Italy was “catching up” in competitiveness by
pushing through reforms despite the “economic headwinds.” He cited
improved tax collection.
With Eurozone finance ministers Monday night debating whether to
give Greece’s government more time to meet its own deficit-cutting
targets, Grilli told the paper it would be “fatal” for Greece to be
forced to exit the Eurozone.
“There are decisions that are irreversible. We must solve the
problem from within the monetary union. Anything else would be fatal,”
Grilli said.
Grilli acknowledged that southern Italy’s growth model had “failed”
as its economy has grown dependent on public spending. Reforms could
only hope to “tame” the public sector over time by “making the
authorities more efficient and building up industry.”
–Frankfurt newsroom, +49-69-720-142; ccermak@mni-news.com
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