The Italian government's draft
budgetary plan (DBP) arrived at the European Commission on
Wednesday after Premier Giorgia Meloni's government approved its
2025 budget bill with 30 billion euros worth of new measures
late on Tuesday.
The package includes a 1,000-euro bonus for the parents of
newborns, although it will be means tested, with wealthier
families excluded, as part of efforts to reverse Italy's
declining birth rate.
Banks, which have enjoyed high profits in recent years thanks to
the ECB putting up interest rates, and insurance companies will
be called on to make a 3.5-billion-euro contribution to the
budget, which will to go the national health system.
"As we had promised, there will be no new taxes for citizens,"
said Meloni, "3.5 billion from banks and insurance companies
will be earmarked for healthcare and the most fragile".
The budget also maintains cuts in the labour-tax wedge for lower
earners that the government made in its 2023 budget law.
The DBP maintains the Quota 103 scheme that enables people to
start claiming a State pension before the retirement age of 67,
under certain conditions, if their age and number of years of
social-security contributions add up to 103.
It also includes incentives for people who have reached
retirement age to stay in work.
Around 2.3-2.4 billion euros of the financial coverage for the
budget comes from a review of public spending, with ministries
told to cut their budgets by around 5%.
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