BRUSSELS. Limit current spending. The Eurogroup turns to Mario Draghi, and the Prime Minister returns to ask for reassurance on the Italian accounts in the light of a budget bill that raises more than a few perplexities. The latest meeting of euro area economic ministers gives space to the country confirms the doubts already raised by the European Commission in recent weeks on a maneuver considered expansive beyond what is allowed by the exceptional and emergency situation linked to the pandemic and the need to shore up businesses.
Financing additional investments to support the recovery, while at the same time pursuing a prudent budgetary policy, is now the mantra of Brussels which, in Brussels, is shared by the nineteen EU states with the single currency. A message written in black and white on the conclusions at the end of the session dedicated to economic maneuvers, but it is the Commissioner for the Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, who delivers the message to Palazzo Chigi explicitly. “We have also called for prudent budget execution in some cases to limit the growth of current spending, especially when combined with high levels of debt,” he said.
The tricolor public debt is expected to be 154.4% in relation to GDP at the end of this year, down to 151.4% at the end of 2022 and, barring complications, to 151% in 2023. Levels that prompt the president of the Eurogroup, Paschal Donohoe, to urge Italy to “control” the amount of public aid. It is right to continue with the support action, but with attention and weighting, as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) also notes. The right mix is needed to ensure that tax cuts in incomes and increases in social spending in the medium term “are sustainable”, explains the director of the institution, Kristalina Georgieva.
The country therefore remains under special surveillance, but the good thing is that super Mario still enjoys credit, inside and outside the European Union. She is the head of the IMF to sing the praises of Draghi. “Italy in 2021 will have a higher than average growth rate, 5.8% against 5% in the euro area”. With these numbers “we see that the government is laying very solid foundations for sustainable growth”. Provided that the public finances are also safe and not further in disorder.