Low birth rate risks costing Italy 18% of GDP -Giorgetti

(ANSA) - ROME, MAY 11 - Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said Thursday Italy's GDP risks coming down by as much as 18% over the next two decades if the country does not end the decline in its birth rate.
    "I think that it should be strongly reiterated that the economic system is closely correlated to births," Giorgetti said in a video message to a conference on this issue in Rome.
    "It is possible to quantify the impact - our country risks losing an astonishing 18% of GDP from here until 2042 with the current fertility rates".
    Giorgetti said the government was looking at ways to boost families' disposable incomes as part of the solution..
    "I don't think a fiscal policy for the family is the decisive element, but it is certainly an important one," he said.
    "When we talk about a comprehensive reform of the tax system, we will have to think about the concept of disposable income".
    (ANSA).