European Economic and Financial Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici looks on during a news conference in Brussels, Belgium August 20, 2018. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Italians know the euro protects them, European Economic Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said on Tuesday in response to an Italian lawmaker’s comments that the country’s problems would be solved if it left the single currency.

Italy’s 10-year borrowing costs hit a four-and-a-half year high on Tuesday after Claudio Borghi, the economic head of the ruling League party, said that Italy would enjoy more favorable conditions outside the euro.

“What I know for sure is that Italy is a core euro zone country. It’s in the interests of the euro zone to have a strong Italy and in the interest of Italy to have a strong euro and strong euro zone. So let’s work together, let’s work with cool blood, let’s work with a constructive spirit,” Moscovici, the economic and monetary affairs commissioner, told reporters.

“The Italians themselves are very attached to the euro because they know that it protects them, so let’s not feed some rumors, some thoughts that are really inappropriate,” he said before a meeting of EU finance ministers.