EU budget chief warns new Italian government on debt

BERLIN – The European Union's budget commissioner says he hopes Italy's prospective new government will master a "big learning curve," and cautions that the eurozone's rescue fund wouldn't be able to stabilize the country.

Law professor Giuseppe Conte is trying to form a government of two populist parties. Nervousness about what could be an administration hostile to fiscally sound measures has rattled bond markets.

EU budget chief Guenther Oettinger told Germany's Funke newspaper group Saturday the currency union's rules on debt are "crystal clear."

The German conservative was quoted as saying that "the rescue mechanism ... could hardly stabilize such a large economy as Italy. So I hope very much that the governing parties will master a big learning curve."

Oettinger said an Italian euro exit is "not at all likely."