Mr. Marco Buti:

With due respect, in the pre-2007 and 2008 period, the issue was not austerity, rather, it was insufficient fiscal discipline which eroded the space for budgets to respond and have sufficient room for manoeuvre when the crisis hit the country. It was not an issue of this sort. The kind of surveillance we had at the time focused essentially on headline deficits, which was amply satisfied in terms of the constraints because of the very strong growth and tax elasticities. There was an erosion of fiscal prudence underlying the behaviour of the country.