Over 30 billion to fight the expensive energy. And immediately the commitment to use 9.5 billion already next week to help families and businesses. It is the space that – said Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the end of the CDM that approved the Nadef and the Report on budgetary adjustment – the government managed to obtain for what it considers the absolute priority. Resources that will arrive first with the energy decree and then with the maneuver. To which are added new measures arriving on the drills.
“Free resources for a total of 30 billion,” said Meloni at the press conference, after the meeting of the Council of Ministers. “For 2023 we have made an important choice – he explained -. In Nadef we have forecast a net debt of 4.5% which then drops to 3% in 2025, and this allows us to free up 22-23 billion which we also intend to use exclusively for expensive energy. In total, with Nadef we identify 30 billion for expensive energy up to 2023 ». In the next Budget Law 2023 «we want to give some signals, but everything will go ahead of the 22 billion for energy, that is, recovering savings in other areas of the budget. We believe that we can recover other resources by making political choices. We want to use the budget law to give signals. We intend to take resources away from things that didn’t work and divert them to others, ”he continued.
The energy chapter will go to all the approximately 22 billion in deficit “obtained” from the new estimates developed in the Update to the Def. The document sets the policy deficit for this year at 5.6% of GDP (from 5.1% trend), with a progressive decline to 4.5% in 2023, 3.7% in 2024 and 3% in 2025 At the same time, GDP growth will stand at 3.7% this year (a further boost compared to the + 3.3% indicated by the Draghi government, thanks to the better performance than expected in the third quarter). Numbers that open room for maneuver also for this year, with a “treasury” of 9.5 billion, which will immediately go to finance the new aid decree, which should see the light next week. The Nadef, together with the Report on budgetary adjustment, will have to pass to the consideration of the Chambers: the green light should arrive as early as Thursday 10 November, thus allowing the government to eventually bring the new decree into CDM as early as the end of next week.
Towards a new aid decree
The decree, necessary in order not to leave households and businesses weakened by expensive energy uncovered in this last part of the year, should mobilize a figure of around 5-7 billion. The measure should extend tax credits for energy-intensive companies (running out in November) and the cut in excise duties on petrol (expiring on November 18) until the end of the year. A strengthening of the social bonus is also possible, which could be released from the ISEE.
Giorgetti, mitigating expensive-energy, prudent approach
The Minister of Economy, Giancarlo Giorgetti, also attended the press conference. In Nadef, he underlined, “the goal is to mitigate the effects of expensive energy on households and businesses and on which a large part of the interventions are concentrated with a prudent, realistic and sustainable approach”.