The ruling anti-establishment
5-Star Movement (M5S) is seeking agreement with its government
partner the League to persuade Economy Minister Giovanni Tria to
raise the deficit-to-GDP ratio in the next budget to 2.4% in the
update note to the DEF economic blueprint, sources said
Wednesday.
They said a government summit may take place Thursday
afternoon in Rome.
Tria pledged earlier on Wednesday that the government's 2019
budget law will stoke growth without sparking alarms about the
management of Italy's public debt of over two trillion euros,
while Deputy Premier Luigi Di Maio, the M5S leader, said a new
budget summit was needed because there was still "a lot of work
to be done".
"It will be a budget of growth, not of austerity, but also
one that does not create doubts about the sustainability of our
debt," Tria told retailers association Confcommercio.
"We have to give a sign to the financial markets, to those
who lend us money.
"We should be careful because sometimes if you ask for too
much, then you have to pay higher interest rates, and what you
gain, you lose in interest".
He added that businesses will get tax cuts from the 5-Star
Movement-League government first, saying that "we'll address the
problem of (income tax) IRPEF in the coming years".
Tria is reportedly under pressure from the M5S to allow
Italy's budget deficit to rise to finance the key elements of
the government's programme - a basic income, a pension overhaul
that would bring down the retirement age and a flat tax.
"I swore that I would work in the exclusive interest of the
nation, and not of others, and I was not the only one," Tria
said.
"Naturally everyone has their own vision. But, as they say,
in science and in your conscience you have to try to interpret
your role properly.
"Despite what the newspapers say, I'm optimistic about doing
my best".
There is "strong resistance" on Tria's part to including an
overhaul of the 2011 Fornero pension reform in the budget bill,
M5S sources said Wednesday, saying the M5S is insisting on its
inclusion.
The sources said Deputy Premier and M5S leader Luigi Di Maio,
the labour and industry minister, had stressed the Fornero
overhaul, as well as a basic income, should be in the budget
bill at a summit with M5S ministers Tuesday.
Tria is resisting pressure to let the budget deficit exceed
2% of GDP.
A fresh government summit is needed to iron out differences
on the 2019 budget bill, Deputy Premier and Labour and Industry
Minister Di Maio, the M5S leader, said Wednesday.
Asked about the prospect, he said "that is sure, there's
still a lot of work to do".
He did not say when a cabinet meeting might be called.
The government is set to approve an update to the DEF
economic and financial blueprint, but there are various views on
how to include all three flagship measures: a basic income, flat
tax and pension overhaul.
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