Italy wants to agree to a new spending deviation of 32 million euros

Rome, January 20 (EFE). The Italian government wants Parliament to approve a new deviation of public spending of 32 million euros, which means an increase in the deficit by 2021 to 8.8% of GDP. Compared to 7% in October last year.

Italian Economy Minister Roberto Gualtieri explained, in a parliamentary appearance, that this deviation will work to approve new aid for companies most affected by the repercussions of the coronavirus epidemic and the measures taken by the government to mitigate its spread.

That is why he requested the support of all parliamentary forces, at a time of weakness for his government, which lost an absolute majority in the Senate after Matteo Renzi withdrew his party, Italy FIFA, from the coalition.

The chief economist acknowledged that there is a risk that the 6% growth forecast for 2021 will be affected if the epidemic worsens, but he is confident that the vaccination campaign will progress and new aid is launched to revitalize it. The economy keeps these accounts.

He said that if the country’s economy grows by 6% in 2021, then public debt levels will be around 155.6% calculated in October, meaning that it will not experience major changes, despite the deficit rising by more than one percentage point.

The Italian Institute of Statistics plans to deliver advance data for the GDP for the fourth quarter of 2020 on February 2, but in the absence of these figures Gualtieri reiterated that the executive’s estimates will drop by 9% in the whole of 2020 and will have a deficit “between 10.5% and 10.8%” Of GDP.

“At the moment, we only have the growth data for the first three quarters, which tells us that the downward trend in GDP in Italy was the same in France and less than in countries like Spain or the United Kingdom. However, the recovery in the third quarter was, thanks to the measures taken. Specifically, subsidies are the most important quarter in Europe. “

Italian GDP decreased by 5.3% in the first quarter of 2020 compared to the previous quarter and 12.8% in the second quarter, as a result of the epidemic, and grew by 15.9% in the third quarter, due to the recovery. From production activity from June.

The minister noted that to curb the economic crisis caused by the health crisis, the government of Giuseppe Conte has launched “measures equivalent to approximately 6.6% of GDP, between direct aid amounting to 108,000 million euros, 300,000 million in loans subject to suspension and 150 thousand million credits. Government guarantees. “

“This is one of the most important interventions that were implemented in Europe, and it can only be compared in size to the intervention launched by Germany,” he said. EFE

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