- Vittorio Grilli, Italian Economy Minister
Italian prices rose by 3.2% on an annual basis in August, 0.1 per cent up from the prior month, as fuel prices advanced year-on-year by 15.1% for petrol and by 17.5% for diesel. Public debt tumbled to 1.96 trillion euros in July, down from a record 1.97 trillion euros in June, said the Bank of Italy.
"The depth of the recession, the scant prospect for meaningful growth, the size of the country's refinancing requirements and, crucially, the increasingly uncertain political outlook all pose significant risks going forward," said Nicholas Spiro of Spiro Sovereign Strategy.
"There is a core of the economic agenda of any government in Europe that has already been agreed at a European level and that's it, and you cannot just do whatever you want," said Italy's Economy Minister Vittorio Grilli.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.18 per cent to 272.42. Germany's DAX Index erased 0.45 per cent to 7,310.32 and France's CAC 40 Index lost 1.18 per cent to 3,502.09.
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