Budget lacks stimulus for investment says Bonomi

(ANSA) - ROME, OCT 30 - The draft 2024 budget law is lacking stimulus for the investments that are needed for economic growth, Confindustria President Carlo Bonomi said on Monday.
    "In my opinion what is lacking (in the budget bill, ed.) is stimulus for investments," Bonomi told the assembly of the Italian Federation of the chemical industry Federchimica in Milan.
    "The economy has to grow and for that to happen there need to be investments," he continued.
    "This part is missing, and we have been told that it has been postponed until the objectives of the national recovery and resilience plan (NRRP) have been revised," added Bonomi.
    "We hope it comes before the end of the year because investments are essential for latching onto the (digital and ecological) transitions," he said.
    Bonomi also described the EU-funded NRRP as a "great opportunity" because one of the problems is the slump in investments and "for a country that wants to grow, this is cause for alarm".
    "We cannot afford to fail," he continued, insisting that Italy needs to land the funding that is aimed at boosting growth.
    "Two roundabouts and a kilometer of cycle path do not increase GDP," said Bonomi.
    The majority has been putting the final touches to the budget bill approved by the cabinet on October 16 before sending it to parliament, reportedly on Monday.
    On Saturday Premier Giorgia Meloni said the overall figures for the package of around 28 billion euros had not changed, even though some aspects had been modified.
    The 2024 budget maintains a six-percentage-point reduction in the labour-tax wedge for those earning up to 35,000 euro and the seven-percentage-point reduction for those earning up to 25,000 euro.
    The government has said this is worth an average increase of around 100 euros a month in the pay packets of 14 million workers.
    The package also merges the two lower bands of Italian income-tax Irpef, bringing the number of bands down from four to three. (ANSA).