Italy’s fractious government is to meet today to decide on an urgent financial bailout for the city of Rome, with a crisis threatened if the League and Five Star Movement fail to agree.
The capital city has a debt of €12 billion dating to 2008. It needs urgent refinancing to avoid the risk of default in 2022, and the ruling parties had agreed to include a package in a growth decree to be approved by the cabinet today.
However, relations between the coalition parties broke down last week over allegations that Armando Siri, a League undersecretary, had accepted a bribe from a Sicilian businessman linked to the mafia. Founded on a commitment to ethical government, Five Star felt honour-bound to call for his resignation, damaging