Italy irked after coronabonds rejected at EU summit

Rome, March 27 - Italy was irked after an EU summit rejected the idea of 'coronabonds' to fund measures to offset the economic impact of the coronavirus. "They want us to get into debt so they can punish us," said Industry Minister Stefano Patuanelli, while Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said "Europe should be more fair". EU leaders took two weeks for further talks on the economic response to the pandemic after Italy rejected the use of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) and northern European fiscal hawks rejected the use of coronabonds.