Lega Nord lanceert campagne voor herinvoering van de lire (en)

The Italian Northern League party launched a campaign to revive the lira at an 85,000-strong rally of its supporters on Sunday (19 June)

The party, which holds minister posts in Silvio Berlusoni's government, called for a revival of the lira as a "parallel currency" to the euro, which would remain the currency of the state budget, tourism and foreign trade.

Under Italian law, a referendum must be held if half a million signatures are collected.

Many economists have branded the idea "bizarre", but not Stanford professor Ronald McKinnon.

Speaking at a European Central Bank conference in Frankfurt he said there is some credence to the view that maybe Italy should be split off and have its own currency. "Even if we know it would all go wrong", he said according to the Telegraph.

In June, Italy became the first country to face disciplinary action under the EU's adjusted stability pact because of a ballooning budget deficit.