ROME (Reuters) - The European Commission has sent a letter to Italian authorities asking for clarification over its 2020 draft budget and Rome will reply by Wednesday, an Italian government source told Reuters.
Under EU rules, the executive European Commission has the job of checking every year whether draft budgets of euro zone countries do not break EU rules on deficit and debt that set limits on borrowing to underpin the euro.
Italy's draft 2020 budget assumes a rise in the structural deficit, the measure excluding business cycle swings and one off expenditure and revenue, of 0.1% of GDP, while under EU rules this deficit should fall 0.6% of GDP.
(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte, editing by Gavin Jones)
