The European Commission rejected Italy’s budget proposals for 2019 and said it will begin disciplinary procedures. Despite the assertion that Rome has ‘seriously violated’ debt rules, Matteo Salvini remained defiant and said that Europe must respect Italy. The head of Italy’s coalition government, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, also weighed in, insisting that his country’s ‘excellent’ budget should go ahead. He added that he hopes to persuade the EC that he has a case this weekend.
With no economic data releases on the schedule for the UK or US, attention will mainly be on the eurozone, with the flash consumer confidence reading for November and European Central Bank monetary policy meeting accounts. The markets are expecting consumer confidence to worsen to -3 from -2.7 in October.
