Germany's economy «has many problems,» Italian premier Renzi says

Brussels (dpa) - Germany has "many" economic problems, including a large trade surplus which violates European Union rules, the leader of one of the bloc‘s most indebted countries, Italy‘s Matteo Renzi, charged on Friday.Prime Minister Renzi made the criticism as he deflected questions on Italy‘s own budget, after his government presented fiscal plans for 2017 which foresee higher deficit and debt numbers compared to what had been agreed with EU institutions."I think that Germany‘s balance sheet has many problems, starting from a trade surplus which does not respect the rules and I hope, think and expect that our German friends [...] can finally proceed with rebalancing this," Renzi said.Speaking after a two-day summit in Brussels, he repeated criticism of EU austerity rules, but insisted that Italy is complying with them, albeit with exceptions for one-off spending on migration and earthquake reconstruction."We respect the rules, while explaining that there are exceptional clauses" that justify the extra spending, Renzi said. He ruled out more belt-tightening to accommodate demands that may come from the European Commission."The provisions in the budget law will not change. Full stop," Renzi said.Renzi‘s intransigence is seen by many as posturing ahead of a December 4 referendum on constitutional reforms that could end his career. If reforms are rejected, Italy‘s premier is likely to resign while the country would be left in political limbo.