Italy’s deputy prime minister calls for interest rate cuts from the ECB

“It’s time for Lagarde to lower rates,” Tajani said

The Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, asked this Tuesday (8), during a visit to Sao Paulo, for a more marked reduction in interest rates by the President of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde . .

Last September the ECB cut rates by 0.25 points, bringing them to a level between 3.50% and 3.90% per year, but Rome defends a more aggressive reduction to stimulate the economy.

“The time has finally come for Mrs. Lagarde to reduce interest rates more substantially,” Tajani said at an event in the capital of Sao Paulo.

“There is a problem with rates. We pay more interest on the public debt than we spend on healthcare”, added the minister, who also asked the ECB and Lagarde for “courage”.

“You get angry and say you are independent. The Central Bank is independent, but I am free to say what I think. To grow we need to reduce the cost of money”, he underlined.

Tajani also assured that the Italian government continues “to work to reduce the fiscal pressure, because the only recipe for growth is to reduce taxes”. “To reduce public debt we also need to ease the fiscal pressure and focus on growth”, he underlined. .

Source: Terra

Rose

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