Italian call for referendum on return of lira

Italy’s labour minister has called for a referendum to see whether Italians want to temporarily bring back the lira after widespread popular discontent over high prices that many blame on the introduction of the euro.

“I say not to discard this hypothesis because it isn’t at all far-fetched,” Labour Minister Roberto Maroni was quoted as saying in an interview published today in La Repubblica.

“Wouldn’t it be better perhaps to return, temporarily, at least to a system of double circulation” of the euro and the lira, Maroni said.

When the euro came into circulation, many retailers steeply raised their prices, by dropping off the zeros from the old prices in lira. The changeover rate from lira to euro was a little under 2,000 lira for every euro. With the adoption of the euro, Italian consumers found themselves paying much more for goods and services ranging from fruit and vegetables to plumbing repairs and dining out.

With elections due next spring and the nation in recession, Italy’s politicians are becoming increasingly sensitive to public anger over economic difficulties and likely to be worried about any anti-European backlash in the wake of “No” votes from France and the Netherlands over the new European Union constitution.

Maroni is a leader of the Northern League, a party whose base is largely built on owners of small and medium-sized businesses in northern Italy. The euro-sceptic party is one of Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s main coalition partners.

“I have no nostalgia for the lira. But from the citizens a cry for help is reaching our ears,” Maroni said.

“The euro is the legitimate child of the European model which, with worry, we’re watching fail,” he was quoted as saying.

“As a member of the political class, I just give an answer to citizens, to my social base, which is made up on small businessmen, merchants, workers,” Maroni said.

He lamented that under the rules governing membership for countries using the euro, Italy can no longer adopt certain measures, such as devaluation of currency, to make exports more attractive.

Maroni’s call seemed to be gaining momentum among fellow party leaders. Industry Undersecretary Roberto Cota, from the League, insisted on Sky TV24 news that going back to the lira was technically possible.