IMF calls for 'further fiscal efforts' from Italy

(ANSA) - ROME, APR 17 - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Wednesday that Italy needs to do more to bring down its budget deficit and halt the rise in its national debt.
    "The likelihood that Italy will achieve the primary deficit needed to stabilize its debt level (estimated at more than 0.5 percent of GDP for 2024) is less than 50 percent, indicating the need for further fiscal efforts in the coming two years," the IMF said in its latest Fiscal Monitor.
    It said Italy was among the countries driving an increase in debt levels worldwide.
    "Global debt is projected to increase to close to 100 percent of GDP by 2029," the report said.
    "The increase will be led by some large economies (for example, China, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States), which critically need to take policy action to address fundamental imbalances between spending and revenues".
    It added that in 2023 "several economies (Italy, Japan) announced new fiscal stimulus plans, including costly changes to tax policy, social security contribution cuts, and new spending initiatives, often based on optimistic financing assumptions".
    The IMF said it forecasts Italy's debt-to-GDP ratio will go from 139.2% this year to 140.4% in 2025, 142.6% in 2026 and 143.1% in 2027. (ANSA).