In a press conference on Monday, Italian leader Matteo Renzi said the Greek crisis would not spill out into Italy, saying the two countries are very different. "The Greek crisis will not have a knock on effect in Italy," he said at an end-of-year press conference in Rome on Tuesday.
The Italian Prime Minister pointed out that the two economies are very different, Italy being much more industrialised, and he highlighted that interest rates on Italian debt remained very low.
At the height of the euro crisis three years ago, there was a sharp drop in market confidence in Italy's economic situation in the wake of the financial crisis in Greece.
On Monday, the Greek parliament was for a third time unsuccessful in electing a president, leading to early parliamentary elections being organised, which could see the far left rise to power.
Athens Stock Exchange finished down over 11% after this failure, markets clearly fearing the arrival of anti-austerity party Syriza, which is currently ahead in the polls.
(Source: Belga)
