Italy’s contribution amounted to € billion, which according to official estimates will rise to more than € billion in 2014. The European reforms are still in the making. Their full pay-off, as well as the reward for national efforts, will come in the medium term.
In the meantime, the distortions still affecting the financial markets could undermine the transmission of monetary policy and jeopardize the entire process. This risk materialized in the spring of 2012 when sovereign spreads started widening again.