Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi stated on Tuesday that Italy would be forced to leave the eurozone if the European Central Bank does not gain more powers and ensure a reduction in borrowing costs.
Berlusconi, who announced this month that he would again lead his party, the People of Freedom (PDL), in the national elections expected in February, said in an interview on state television RAI that the eurozone needs to become a lender of last resort.
“If Germany does not accept that the ECB must be a real central bank, if interest rates are not lowered, we will be forced to leave the euro and return to our own currency to be competitive,” Berlusconi said, as reported by Italian news agencies ANSA and AGI.
This 76-year-old media tycoon has previously spoken similarly about the possibility of Italy, and even Germany, leaving the euro, but has at least partially corrected his words later.
Berlusconi is already in a fierce campaign with a series of television interviews in an effort to close the wide gap with the center-left Democratic Party, which is achieving over 30 percent popularity in opinion polls, about 14 percent more than the PDL.
Berlusconi was forced to resign as Prime Minister in November last year when yields on Italian government bonds soared at the peak of the eurozone debt crisis.
