Italy’s Minister of Finance, Giancarlo Giorgetti, said that achieving a public deficit below 3% was “possible this year”, on Saturday 20 September in Copenhagen, on the sidelines of the informal meeting of European finance ministers (see other news).
“There’s nothing utopian about that. If we have the opportunity to exit the excessive deficit procedure, it is in Italy’s interest to do so”, he said. He added that: “The global turmoil has not helped us in terms of exports and, therefore, growth, but there are still three months to go. We will also be looking at the forthcoming Istat figures for the third quarter”.
However, Mr Giorgetti spoke out against a cut in personal income tax (Irpef), contrary to the wishes of Minister Matteo Salvini, who belongs to the same political party, Lega.
Italy is subject to an excessive deficit procedure (EDP), with a public deficit of 7.2% of national GDP in 2023 and 3.4% of GDP in 2024. In January, the EU Council asked it to eliminate its excessive public deficit by the end of 2026.
An earlier exit by Italy from the EDP procedure could have an impact on a future request by the Italian government to benefit from the national escape clause of the Stability and Growth Pact in order to spend more on defence.
Italy had raised the issue of the asymmetry of European budgetary rules, which would penalise countries undergoing an EDP procedure (see EUROPE 13679/21). Activating the Pact’s national escape clause would make it more difficult for these countries to opt out of the EDP procedure. The Commission is due to report on this issue by the end of the year. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)