IMF must help Italy out of crisis

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti pushed his multi-billion austerity programme through the Italian Chamber of Deputies on Friday, after which demonstrations and strikes were called for Monday. The IMF must now quickly help the country out of the crisis, writes economic policy expert Alain Trannoy in the business paper La Tribune: "If someone can't or doesn't want to put out a blaze with the family fire extinguisher, you've got to call the fire brigade. Since the Eurozone refuses to act as lender of last resort, there's no option but to turn to an outside institution, in this case the IMF. It alone potentially has the resources to raise the capital among its members that would prevent Italy from having to refinance its debt on the markets for one, two or even three years by granting it a credit line of 600 billion euros. Nevertheless one must be clear about the political cost for Europe, as the emerging nations are demanding more participation and voting rights in exchange."

» full article (external link, French)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Fiscal Policy, » Politics, » Italy, » Europe, » Global
All available articles from » Alain Trannoy

» To the complete press review of Monday, December 19, 2011