(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 20 - The cabinet on Friday won a vote of confidence in the Lower House over its 2025 budget with 211 lawmakers voting in favour and 117 against The draft measure, which needs to be approved by an end-of-year deadline, is set for a final vote in the House before moving to the Senate next week.
    Overall, the package of measures vies to lower next year's fiscal deficit to 3.3% of GDP while slashing taxes for low and medium income brackets.
    The bill also includes grants such as a construction bonus covering 50% of costs under 96,000 euros for primary residences and 36% for holiday homes for a maximum of 40,000 euros in expenses, which is valid only for next year.
    Starting in 2026, the bonus should be lowered to pay for 36% of costs for first homes and 30% for second ones under current provisions.
    Other subsidies in the package include, for the first time, a "newborn card" giving parents whose annual income does not exceed 40,000 euros a 1,000-euro bonus.
    Measures targeting low-income families provide for a subsidy for households with children between the ages of 6 and 14 to pay for sports and other recreational activities.
    An additional 1.5 million euros have also been earmarked for a grant aimed at helping people cope with mental health problems, known as the psychologist's bonus The European Union has ordered Italy to cut its deficit, with Rome pledging to lower it under the EU's 3% threshold in 2026.
    Italy's public debt moved closer to the three-trillion-euro mark in October, increasing by 19.9 billion to a new record high of 2,981,3 billion, the Bank of Italy has said.
    The economy ministry has forecast that the debt will climb from 134.8% of GDP last year to 137.8% in 2026, before declining.
    In recent months Italy, the euro zone's third largest economy, has stagnated.
    Earlier in December, national statistics bureau ISTAT said it cut its GDP growth forecast to 0.5% this year and 0.8% in 2025.
    This is a reduction of half a percentage point on the forecast the national statistics agency gave in June for this year's growth and by 0.3 of a point on the prediction for 2025.
    The forecasts are well below the government's, which see GDP rising 1% this year and 1.2% next.
    The agency said the government's 2025 budget law will have a positive impact on the economy over the 2025-27 period, boosting GDP by slightly less than two-tenths of a point in 2025 and 2026, and slightly more than two-tenths in 2027. (ANSA).