EU Nightmare: Italian Nationalists Demand $250 Billion Debt Forgiveness
A leaked draft of the coalition agreement between populist parties 5-Star Movement and the League revealed the Eurozone’s third-largest economy is planning to hit the European Union with a nightmare scenario which could divide members.
Should the parties get into power they will demand a renegotiation of Italy’s European Union budget contributions, the dismantling of a 2011 pension reform that raised the retirement age, and an end to sanctions against Russia.
The joint document will demand the ECB forgives Italy of €250 billion Italian benchmark BTP bonds bought under the bank’s so-called “quantitative easing” program to help reduce Italy’s public debt. Italy’s debt mountain totals more than 130 percent of national output is the highest in the Eurozone after Greece’s.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZT7QbqGwdk&w=620&h=349]