Italian Prime Minister Monti Visits the Financial Times and Wall Street

After his successful meeting in Washington with President Obama, President Monti arrived yesterday in New York City full of positive perspectives.

Monti’s visit to New York City started in the morning at the Financial Times, then early in the afternoon he spent two hours with top investors in Wall Street and was interviewed by the financial channel CNBC.

After his meetings, Monti said that the American opinion of Italy is very positive.

He declared that “the markets, as well as other governments, have a positive opinion of the serious path Italy is taking to solve its problems,” and added: “there is a great interest in Italy and the Italian market in the US, once our economy consolidates its recovery, but even today.”

In his speeches, Monti addressed the Greek situation. “I do not believe that Greece will have a default or will be excluded from the euro zone,” he told RaiNews24. He also underlined the inexistent connection between the Greek situation and the Italian, defining a “thrilling fiction” the hypothesis of an Italian default or of an Italian exit from the Euro zone.

In his interview with CNBC, the Italian Prime Minister also underlined that Italian banks are less affected than other countries’ banks by the effects of the crisis.

Talking about the liberalizations and simplification measures his government is adopting in Italy, Monti said: “The measures applied in Italy will bring the Italian budget in balance within 2013, two years earlier than many other EU nations. We will obtain our results despite the pessimistic outlook of rates and growth.”

The Italian Prime Minister underlined the importance of keeping Italy on the path his government has put it on at the end of his mandate, with the fundamental help of an active Parliament, ready to take quick decisions. Monti said: “we started this economic path not for the market but for the Italians. However, the market gains as well.”

The reform of the job market is the next measure in the government’s agenda. It will be “more flexible, modern and less discriminatory toward young people and those who live abroad”.

At the end of his meeting in Wall Street, Monti visited the United Nation Headquarters to meet with Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and President of the General Assembly Al-Nasser. He then visited the Consulate General of Italy and met representatives of fellow Italian Institutions.