Austerity exhaustion coming in Italy, Monti warns. Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti knows he has very little time to make changes in the Italian economy before a wall of cynicism and inertia descends on him.
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Statue and Italian Flag in front of Vittorio Emanuele monument.
His message: austerity alone is not going to get Italy out of its problems. The ECBhas to be more proactive, and he is not mincing words about what needs to change.
"I cannot be successful with my policies if the policies of the EU do not change. If that doesn't happen, Italy — which has always been a pro-European country — could flee into the hands of populists," he was quoted as saying in an interview in German newspaper Die Welt.
What he wants, of course, is more aggressive buying of sovereign bonds, which might help lower interest rates and make Italians debt burden more affordable.
"The European context must become more favourable, by permitting in good time a lowering of interest rates and greater integration of the EU," he said while standing next to Germany's Andrea Merkel this morning.
Speaking of exhaustion, how about Angela Merkel start talking more about growth and less about austerity as well?
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