ROME, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- The reasoning behind Italy's 2019 draft budget "remains entirely valid" in spite of objections from the European Union (EU), Finance Minister Giovanni Tria explained in a letter to the European Commission published early on Wednesday.
The letter defends the introduction of a basic income for the poor and the unemployed as "an urgent priority" in order to combat "social difficulties caused by the economy's negative trend".
Tria added that "the government confirms" it intends to lower the retirement age, rolling back pension reforms introduced in 2011 which, he wrote, had "negative consequences on workforce turnover".
As well, the government plans to privatize public assets worth "1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP)" in 2019 in order to lower Italy's public debt, the second largest in the eurozone.
The privatizations "constitute a security margin" to make sure Italy's debt comes down "even in case GDP fails to grow as expected", Tria wrote, adding the government sees debt falling "from 131.2 percent (of GDP) in 2017 to 120 percent by 2021".
The European Commission has rejected Italy's planned budget, arguing it fails to reduce public debt and is based on unrealistic growth assumptions.
