Economy Minister Roberto Gualtieri
said Wednesday that the government intends to deliver a cut in
income-tax IRPEF "of a significant size".
The minister told Radio 24 that around eight billion euros would
be devoted to bringing down IRPEF as of 2022 as part of a reform
of the tax system
He also said that Italy may get more initially from Next
Generation EU, the 750-billion-euro fund to help States recover
from the economic earthquake caused by COVID-19, than had
previously been though.
"It seems from dialogue with the Commission that the quota of
the Next Generation EU that falls within the React EU (cohesion
policy) could be much higher than forecast for the first year,"
he said.
Gualtieri also commented on the row within the government about
whether to apply for around 37 billion euros in low-interest
funding from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) to invest in
the health system.
His centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and the centrist Italia
Viva (IV) party are in favour but the 5-Star Movement (M5S) is
against out of fear the money could come with strings attached
further down the line.
Premier Giuseppe Conte has expressed scepticism about the ESM
option, irking the PD and IV.
"I am in favour, in part because I negotiated (the ESM option
for health spending) and I know there is no type of
conditionality," he said.
"But the benefit from the use of the ESM for Italy is not an
additional 37 billion euros, its the saving of 300 million euros
a year in interest payments.
"Obviously, 300 million euros a year is a significant figure, so
I'm in favour".
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