Although it is a founding member of the EU, Italian public support for the European project is among the lowest in Europe; it is the eurozone’s third largest economy, but its economy is the same size as it was in 2000; and it still has the third largest sovereign debt burden in the world, after the US and Japan. Italy could yet pull the eurozone apart – and indeed the EU.
Europe's make-or-break country: What is wrong with Italy's economy? | Centre for European Reform
The European Central Bank has said that Monte dei Paschi di Siena’s capital shortfall has risen to €8.8bn from €5bn, significantly increasing the price tag of the rescue of Italy’s third-largest lender by the government. In a statement released late on Monday, MPS also revealed that the ECB had warned that the bank’s liquidity had suffered a “rapid deterioration” over the past month, as it tried in vain to muster enough cash from private investors to avoid a state bailout.