Cabinet OKs REI 'inclusion' benefit (3)

(ANSA) - Rome, August 29 - The cabinet on Tuesday gave final approval to a decree introducing an Inclusion Income (REI) benefit for 400,000 Italian families including some 1.8 million people. The REI replaces the SIA benefit. The new anti-poverty benefit aims to help more people than the SIA and is part of Premier Paolo Gentiloni's government's pledge to aid those left behind by a spluttering economic recovery.
    Farm Minister Maurizio Martina hailed the approval of the benefit, saying: "Finally Italy has plugged a gap, since it was until today the only European country without a universal instrument to combat poverty".