ROME (Reuters) - European Central Bank President Mario Draghi met Italian President Sergio Mattarella on Monday to discuss Italy's 2019 budget that is unnerving markets, a political source told Reuters on Friday.
The ECB declined to comment on the report.
The Italian government, comprising the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and the right-wing League, says the deficit will come in at 2.4 percent of gross domestic product next year, three times the target set by the previous executive and putting the country on a collision course with the European Commission.
Italian newspapers la Repubblica and La Stampa reported earlier that the meeting took place on Wednesday and that Draghi had pointed out the risks stemming from a negative market reaction to the budget.
(Reporting by Giselda Vagnoni and Luca Trogni; Editing by Crispian Balmer)
