INTERNATIONAL. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi requested international surveillance of his bid to cut the euro- region’s second-biggest debt, as his fraying coalition threatens Italian efforts to erect a wall against Europe’s debt crisis.
Berlusconi’s government asked the International Monetary Fund to periodically assess its debt-reduction progress, while rejecting an offer for financial assistance from the Washington- based lender, he told a press conference today at the Group of 20 summit in Cannes, France.
“It hasn’t been imposed, it was requested,” Berlusconi said. The IMF will carry out quarterly “certifications” of the euro region’s third-largest economy, he said, adding that the current sell-off of Italian debt is “a temporary trend” even as the nation’s borrowing costs surged to a new euro-era record.
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