Cabinet to examine coronavirus measures

(ANSA) - Rome, February 28 - Premier Giuseppe Conte's cabinet is scheduled to meet at 19:30 on Friday to look at a first set of measures to offset the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak. "This first decree will be quite broad and approved in record time," Economy Minister Roberto Gualtieri.
    "There will be a second decree next week for direct support of the economy". A draft of a decree set to be approved features a six-month suspension of utility bills and trash-collection taxes for the areas hit by the epidemic.
    It is also set to give small and medium-sized enterprises priority access to funding and income-support for workers who are laid off or have their hours cut because of the crisis.
    Furthermore, firms in the coronavirus areas will be able to take a 12-month break from mortgage payments and in some cases it will be possible to request a delay in payment of tax and social-security contributions. There will also be a clampdown on attempts to cash in on the crisis with speculative price hikes on products that are in high demand because of the emergency, such as face masks.
    The package has special measures for the tourism sector, which is one of the hardest hit areas of the economy. Gualtieri stressed that the decree being examined on Friday will not just regard measures for the coronavirus hotspots.