The only certainty with Italy's upcoming election will be uncertainty.
Following Germany's vote in September last year, it's now the Italians who are headed to the ballot box this Sunday, with the outcome expected to be even messier than Berlin's — which, incidentally, is still being pieced together by Chancellor Angela Merkel and her coalition partners. Polls have pointed to a hung parliament where no one party will gain a majority to govern alone.
A center-right coalition featuring Forza Italia, led by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and Lega Nord, an anti-immigrant and anti-systemic party, is seen as being the strongest coalition, but the polls suggest that it will still not get sufficient seats to form a majority government.
Italy became the most Euroskeptic of all the euro zone nations and highlighted that immigration had become the main topic of this current political campaign. Budgetary issues would be at the forefront of any winning party's plans, and reminded readers that Italy still needed to find a solution to an "undercapitalized banking system burdened by a mountain of non-performing loans."
Italy's fragile economy is why this election is so very different to Germany's and why many analysts singled out this vote at the start of the year as being a major a risk factor for 2018. Germany's political mess caused little distress in European stock markets in 2017, but Italy is a different prospect.
Source: Bloomberg Pro Terminal
Trader Bozhidar Arabadzhiev
Read more:
25 Canada Square, Level 33, office 50, Canary Wharf London, E14 5LQ +44 20 3608 6256
World Financial Markets - 0700 17 600 Varchev Exchange - 0700 115 44
Varchev Finance Ltd is registered in the FCA (FINANCIAL CONDUCT AUTHORITY) with a passport in the United Kingdom: FCA, United Kingdom - registration number: 494 045, which allows provision of financial services in the United Kingdom.
Varchev Finance Ltd strictly comply with the statutes of the European directive MiFID (Markets in Financial Instruments). targeting increased efficiency, transparency and uniformity of financial instruments.
Varchev Finance Ltd is authorized and regulated by the Financial Supervision Commission - Sofia, Bulgaria: License number RG-03-02-05 / 15.03.2006
The information on this site is not intended for distribution or use by any person in any country or jurisdiction where such distribution or use would be contrary to local law or regulation.
Disclaimer:
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 63,41% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.