Italy’s new pro-European cabinet sworn in

European government, heralding a fresh start for the eurozone’s third largest economy as the far-right falls from power.Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and his ministers from the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) and centre-left Democratic Party (PD) raised their right hands as they took the oath in the 16th century presidential palace in Rome. “We’re ready to give our utmost for the country,” M5S head Luigi Di Maio, the new foreign minister, said.The coalition still faces a vote in parliament, set to take place in the lower house on Monday and the upper

house on Tuesday.“Good luck to the new government

and its ministers. Let’s change Italy!” PD head Nicola Zingaretti said. First on the cabinet’s to-do list is the 2020 budget, which has to be submitted to parliament by the end of September, and then to Brussels by October 15.The pick of the PD’s Brussels-savvy Roberto Gualtieri as finance minister was hailed as “extremely positive, especially for the relationship

with the EU” by Lorenzo Codogno, former chief economist at the Italian Treasury Department. The previous coalition between the M5S and far-right Matteo Salvini’s anti-immigrant League had fought bitterly with the European Commission

over its big-spending budget. The markets welcomed the new cabinet, with Milan’s FTSE Mib stock market up 0.5 percent after the swearing-in ceremony.It is the youngest ever in Italy’s post-war history -- the average age being 47 years old -- and has more ministe

 

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