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Di Maio's comments are the latest of several
calls for greater licence to spend from Rome's anti-austerity
government as the ruling parties campaign ahead of this month's
European Parliament elections.
In an interview with La7 television channel, Di Maio said the
EU's budget deficit ceiling of 3 percent of gross domestic
product "is okay for certain things but spending on education,
health and research have to come out of the calculation."
Di Maio leads the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement that
governs with the right-wing League and both parties are
promising tax cuts which threaten to raise the budget deficit
well above limits agreed last year with the European Commission.
League leader Matteo Salvini said on Tuesday the government
should be ready to break the EU's 3 percent deficit limit if
necessary to cut taxes, and Di Maio responded that his coalition
ally's proposal should be considered.
On Thursday Economy Minister Giovanni Tria said the EU's "fiscal
compact" which imposes strict spending limits on high-debt
countries such as Italy, should be scrapped, calling it "a
structurally deflationary mechanism."
Tria is a former academic who is not a member of either ruling
party, and is often seen as the voice of moderation in the
government. However, he has also spoken in favour of changing EU
rules to strip public investment out of deficit calculations.
His call for an end of the fiscal compact were quickly applauded
by his 5-Star deputy minister Laura Castelli, who said on
Facebook that the tough rules approved in 2012 during the EU's
debt crisis "have created a lot of problems for Italians."
(Reporting by Gavin Jones and Giuseppe Fonte; Editing by Toby
Chopra)
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