Stock markets tumbled today with £20billion wiped off of London shares, after elections in Italy ended in deadlock.
There are fears of a fresh Eurozone crisis after the result in which the anti-austerity movement fronted by stand-up comic Beppe Grillo won 25% of the vote - denying the centre-left Democrats a chance to form a working government.
Billionaire media mogul (and former comedian) Berlusconi did not win enough Senators to form a majority in the upper house - leaving Mr Grillo’s Five Star party with the balance of power in both houses.
Mr Grillo won support after campaigning for a return to the lira and a referendum on Italy’s EU membership.
He also promised not to do any back-room deals with other parties to keep them in power.
The dramatic result wiped £20 billion off London shares today - with Milan, Frankfurt and Paris stock markets all falling even further.
Former PM Mario Monti won just 9% of the vote in a clear rejection of his austerity policies.
Monti took power 15 months ago at the head of a technocrat team after Mr Berlusconi was forced from office in murky circumstances.
Comic leader Mr Grillo predicted that even if his socialist rival was able to put together a government, it would barely last until the summer.
Italy has already suffered six years of austerity and cutbacks - pushing the country into a depression.
Monti forced through draconian austerity measures to comply with EU demands.
The predictable result is that the economy has take a great leap backwards to help Europe's all-powerful banks and is predicted to have shrunk by 10% by next year. Meanwhile the youth jobless rate has reached 37%.
No comments:
Post a Comment