No extension of 80 euro bonus to pensioners, sources-update2

(ANSA) - Rome, December 9 - The Italian government will not extend its 80-euro monthly tax bonus to pensioners because that would put too much strain on the national budget and risk pushing it above the 3% ceiling of deficit to GDP imposed by the European Union, sources said Tuesday.
    The bonus has been offered to low-income families and pressure has been growing on the government to include pensioners in the tax plan.
    Premier Matteo Renzi had promised in May that it would be extended to pensioners in 2015.
    However, as Italy continues to struggle to pull out of its third recession since 2008, the government is finding it has little fiscal room to move.
    It has been calling on the EU for more freedom to spend on stimulus programs including tax reductions.
    Instead, the European Commission recently warned Renzi's executive that its 2015 budget bill, which includes 18 billion euros in tax cuts in a bid to boost the recession-hit economy, risks breaching that 3% limit as well as requirements it pay off the national debt of more than two trillion euros.