Lega Deputy Claudio Borghi Insists, Exit from Euro Would Be Good for Italy

Aug. 22, 2019 (EIRNS)—In an interview published in the latest issue of the German monthly Capital, Lega Party Deputy Claudio Borghi, chairman of the Chamber of Deputies Budget Committee, said, “I am convinced that an exit from the euro would be good for our country.” The euro takes away from Italy “the freedom to decide on our own financial policy,” he stated. Capital hints that, being the economic adviser to Lega Chairman Matteo Salvini, Borghi might play a role in a revival of the euro exit debate, now that Italy is facing early elections.

Borghi told Capital that he would “go for the exit only if I had democratic legitimacy for it, for instance with an election victory above 50% of the votes, or if I were forced to do it for reasons of national security.”

Asked about the charges made by pro-euro circles that Borghi’s idea of mini-bots (short-term debt paper issued by the state to pay bills and tax cuts) would undermine the euro, Borghi told Capital that “after the euro crisis, governments and central bankers were not tired of claiming that the ‘euro is forever, the euro is stable, the euro is irreversible.’ I ask myself then: is the euro undestroyable or not?” The minibots are meant to stimulate the Italian economy, Borghi explains, because “ever since our country has had the euro, this so-called wonder piece, we have had a growth problem.”

Concerning the EU principle of balanced austerity budgets, Borghi says:

“Even in Germany, more and more people realize that the ‘black zero’ [balanced budget] is not good in the long term: not even for the German economy.... We don’t have the intention to create a mega deficit. But if there were an attempt to decree (a deficit of) 1.5% maximally, our answer would be: no.”

Will Italy stay in the Eurozone? Borghi says: “That depends on the will of the EU and its member states to take right and intelligent decisions. We do not want conflict with Brussels. But we will not accept anything that goes against the interests of our citizens.”