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- Ewald Nowotny, ECB policymaker
Italy's Senate passed austerity measures to reduce budged deficit on Friday in an effort to restore investor confidence and clear the way for a new interim government that may be headed by Mario Monti, a former European Union Competition Commissioner.
"The most important element to overcome this crisis is a very trusted and able new Italian government that can really fulfill the structural changes that are needed," ECB policymaker Ewald Nowotny told Reuters in Beijing.
"It's clear that only a comprehensive and wide-ranging package of reforms can kick-start Italian growth again," EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said Thursday. "The first and foremost thing for Italy is to restore political stability and capacity of decision making" as well as "firm and determined action" on fiscal targets.