Honeymoon Over for Renzi as Italian Reality Confounds Ambitions
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The political honeymoon is long over for Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, and it will be tough to square his latest vote-catching plan with the debt-plagued economy.
The timid exit from a record-long recession has left many Italians frustrated, with youth unemployment at 44.2 percent in June. His popularity at a record low in public opinion polls, 40-year-old Renzi has pledged three years of tax cuts worth 35 billion euros ($39 billion) from 2016 to 2018 to regain momentum.