[Published: Wednesday November 14 2018]
 Italy rejects EU demand to cut budget
ROME 14 Nov (ANA) - The Italian government has defied the European Commission by sticking to its big-spending budget plan.
Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said a deficit target of 2.4% and a growth forecast of 1.5% were unchanged.
The Commission, worried by the impact of high spending on Italy's high levels of debt, had told Rome to revise the budget or face possible fines.
It had set Tuesday as a deadline to Italy's governing populist parties to respond to its objections.
The Commission's warning to Italy, the eurozone's third-biggest economy, is an unprecedented move with regard to an European Union member state.
It will now decide whether to begin disciplinary measures against the Rome government.
Italian government bond yields rose sharply early on Wednesday amid fears that its budget decision would raise borrowing costs.
Italy's government, made up of the populist Five Star Movement and right-wing populist League, came to power vowing to "end poverty" with a minimum income for the unemployed, along with promises of tax cuts and scrapping extensions to the retirement age.(ANA)
FA/ANA/14 November 2018-------
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