ROME - Five Star militants were celebrating Friday after the populist government approved a budget deficit at 2.4 per cent of GDP, designed to “abolish poverty.”
An agreement was reached shortly after 9 p.m. following a long afternoon of deadlock between the coalition government and Economy Minister Giovanni Tria.
Mr Tria had tried for days to limit the deficit to 1.6 per cent of GDP, in line with EU demands that Italy rein in its high debt.