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Italy's Populists Reach Accord on Government Team, Officials Say

Italy's Populists Reach Accord on Government Team, Officials Say

(Bloomberg) -- Italy’s populist Five Star Movement and League parties have reached an agreement on a government team, with economist Giovanni Tria as leading candidate for the job of finance minister, according to party officials.

Five Star’s Luigi Di Maio and the League’s Matteo Salvini agreed on a proposed administration during a meeting at the Rome parliament on Thursday, according to officials from both parties who declined to be named discussing a confidential encounter. The populists had previously agreed on law professor Giuseppe Conte as potential premier.

The latest deal sees Tria, 69, as finance minister, and euroskeptic economist Paolo Savona as responsible for European affairs, according to a senior League lawmaker. The accord excludes the far-right Brothers of Italy, which had campaigned with League in a center-right alliance, from the team.

Italian bonds gained after the news, with the 10-year yield falling about 2 basis points to 2.7 percent. Previous efforts to form a populist government had spooked markets with a government program that pledged a spending spree and tax cuts, challenging European Union rules.

President Sergio Mattarella had on Sunday vetoed Savona as part of a Five Star-League administration, citing concerns about his stand on the euro.

To contact the reporters on this story: John Follain in Rome at jfollain2@bloomberg.net;Lorenzo Totaro in Rome at ltotaro@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alan Crawford at acrawford6@bloomberg.net, Kevin Costelloe, Ross Larsen

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