ROME (Reuters) - Italian Economy Minister Giovanni Tria said on Wednesday it was too early to say whether the government would have to introduce a corrective budget later this year following worse-than-expected economic data.
Addressing parliament, Tria said he believed that some 2 billion euros put aside in the 2019 budget for reserve spending should be enough to cover any eventual shortfall.
Italy fell into recession at the end of 2018 and the European Commission has predicted that growth this year will be just 0.2 percent against a 1.2 percent forecast it made last November. This unexpected slowdown could make it hard for the government to meet is deficit target of 2.04 percent of gross domestic product.