Italy’s populist leaders are discussing paying public-sector suppliers with IOUs instead of money, a step that Italian euroskeptics have proposed as the starting point for a new currency in case Italy has to leave Europe’s currency union.
The heads of the nativist League and antiestablishment 5 Star Movement, which make up the governing coalition in Rome, want to assess the idea of paying off government arrears using IOUs with denominations as small as €50 ($56), dubbed “Mini-BOTs” after Italy’s BOT treasury bills.
