08/11/2016 (Agence Europe) – The Italian finance minister, Pier Carlo Padoan, has described the budgetary figures for Italy, put forward by the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, as "incorrect", stressing that they had already been disclaimed by the European institution. The day before, Juncker put at 0.1% of GDP the level of extraordinary expenditure that Italy expects to make in 2017 to cover the post-earthquake reconstruction effort and the influx of refugees. Rome puts this expenditure at 0.4% of GDP (see EUROPE 11657). The draft Italian budget for 2017 forecasts a deficit of 2.3% of GDP, a performance that falls below the regulatory threshold of 3%, but is in excess of the prior commitments of around 1% taken by the Italian authorities (see EUROPE 11652). (MB)