Election: Meloni-Salvini spar over debt for energy aid

(ANSA) - ROME, SEP 21 - Brothers of Italy (FdI) leader Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday sparred with her alliance partner, League leader Matteo Salvini, after the latter reiterated his call for Italy to run a higher budget deficit to finance more aid for families and firms faced with soaring energy bills.
    "It seems possible to recall parliament even (immediately) after the elections (on Sunday) to have a new budget deviation," Salvini told Radio 24.
    "Those who ask for time and say it is possible to wait are wrong. That goes for FdI and for (the centre-left Democratic Party) PD.
    "Thousands of firms and workshops are at risk. The production system is at risk".
    Meloni, who is tipped to lead the centre right to victory on Sunday and become Italy's first woman premier, said running a higher deficit "is not the solution".
    "It's a bottomless well, money that we give to speculators" she told RTL 102.5 radio.
    She said "decoupling the cost of gas and (electricity) energy, a structural measure" was the way to go. (ANSA).